Anyone have a VO1000 from weaver? I found three and I might buy one. Any thoughts on operation and sound would be good to know.
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FYI: Atlas O has announced a VO1000 in several road names with pricing in June.
I know, I've thought about ordering one.
The Atlas locomotive will be better. Several years of progress in electronics makes a difference. I believe the Weavers have only a generic engine sound, whereas the Atlass engines will have the sound of that true Baldwin 600 RPM chug, and also will have smoke.
I think I recall the Weaver VO uses the licensed TMCC of its time, so that means it has EMD prime mover sounds as opposed to De La Vergne prime mover sounds.
The 8 cylinder inline De La Vergne prime mover had a wonderful unique sound. I recall seeing them with the heads off and the cylinders/pistons were HUGE. Here's some interesting specs on them:
Bore/Stroke: 12 3/4" bore x 15 1/2" stroke.
Production VO engines:
6VO - 6 cylinder, 660 hp @ 625 rpm
8VO - 8 cylinder, 1000 hp @ 625 rpm
The incorrect sounds may not be a deal breaker for you, but at least you're now aware of it.
The big thing for me is smoke. I'll just get one of the Atlas ones.
I'll throw out one more option...the MTH Premier PS-3 VO1000. A nice level of detail (better than the Weaver version, which I previously owned), very good sounds and yes, a smoke unit, too.
I recently purchased a second-hand Lehigh Valley unit and just finished "3-rail scaling" & weathering it. Nice engine, and it didn't break the bank by today's standards!
MTH also made them in Rail King Scale. Pictured here.
The VO1000's were made with two-stacks and with for-stacks. In the case of may Pennsy units MTH made them with correct stack arrangement for the road numbers.
Oh man, love the PRR collection! I might consider one of them too. As long as it smokes, it's a winner in my book.
Trainlover9943 posted:Oh man, love the PRR collection! I might consider one of them too. As long as it smokes, it's a winner in my book.
The RailKing VO1000's do NOT have smoke units. The Premier units are advertised with smoke units, but they are $100.00 and some more and do have more detail. And remember prototypically diesels that smoke are sick units with the exception when heavily throttling up.
PRRronbh posted:Trainlover9943 posted:Oh man, love the PRR collection! I might consider one of them too. As long as it smokes, it's a winner in my book.
The RailKing VO1000's do NOT have smoke units. The Premier units are advertised with smoke units, but they are $100.00 and some more and do have more detail. And remember prototypically diesels that smoke are sick units with the exception when heavily throttling up.
Did MTH make a Premier PRR one? If so, I'm in. And maybe eventually we'll get a railking one with smoke in ps3.
CNJ #1601 posted:I'll throw out one more option...the MTH Premier PS-3 VO1000. A nice level of detail (better than the Weaver version, which I previously owned), very good sounds and yes, a smoke unit, too.
I recently purchased a second-hand Lehigh Valley unit and just finished "3-rail scaling" & weathering it. Nice engine, and it didn't break the bank by today's standards!
I saw that one. You did an amazing job!
Trainlover9943 posted:PRRronbh posted:Trainlover9943 posted:Oh man, love the PRR collection! I might consider one of them too. As long as it smokes, it's a winner in my book.
The RailKing VO1000's do NOT have smoke units. The Premier units are advertised with smoke units, but they are $100.00 and some more and do have more detail. And remember prototypically diesels that smoke are sick units with the exception when heavily throttling up.
Did MTH make a Premier PRR one? If so, I'm in. And maybe eventually we'll get a railking one with smoke in ps3.
Yes the Pennsy one item number is 20-20175-1. My RK versions are 30-2753-1 (#5913) and the red one 20-2931-1 (#5916) as used at Sunnyside Yard.
I have one in Milwaukee Road, "Hiawatha" colors. Beautiful engine. Runs very well, has caused no problems and pulls well for an eight wheel switch engine. It does have an early TMCC Command system and, yes, the sounds are those of an EMD 567. I have no problem with that, however, since the the De La Vergne was fraught with problems and most prototype locomotives were re-engined, usually with EMD power. I understand that the Nevada Northern Railroad and museum has two Baldwins and they were supposed to retain their original engines. 'Be nice to hear them run, sometime. Recently saw a VO1000 switching a short line up in Canada. It, too, had EMD power.
If you are getting a good deal on the engine, with an attractive price, I would go ahead and buy it. If the pricing is too high in comparison, you'd probably be better off getting one of the MTH models. Not sure if MTH bothered to record an actual De La Vergne engine for their model. Another consideration is: which manufacturer painted the engine for your favorite RR. Wouldn't want to go through the exercise of repainting an decorating a new locomotive. For me the Milwaukee Road colors sold it.
Paul Fischer
I found a custom run of (Weaver) WPs for $400 each. At Western depot.
Careful with the Weaver vo 1000. Many of them were packed and shipped with bad "greese". I bought one at the Hamburg show two years ago for $130.00 and it was jammed out of the box.
Item was still shrink wrapped. I had to do a total disassemble on the drive train and clean all greased bearings and gears. I repack with red and tacky grease and it ran like a champ!
As stated above, Weaver used the EMD sound file. I changed it to the ALCo sound but it's not that correct. Love to get the BLW sound
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Trainlover9943 posted:CNJ #1601 posted:I'll throw out one more option...the MTH Premier PS-3 VO1000. A nice level of detail (better than the Weaver version, which I previously owned), very good sounds and yes, a smoke unit, too.
I recently purchased a second-hand Lehigh Valley unit and just finished "3-rail scaling" & weathering it. Nice engine, and it didn't break the bank by today's standards!
I saw that one. You did an amazing job!
Thank you, Matt.
Trainlover9943 posted:I found a custom run of (Weaver) WPs for $400 each. At Western depot.
To put things in perspective, I purchased the MTH Premier PS-3 version (with cruise, smoke, better sound, wire grab irons, etc.) for $300. Yes, it was second hand, but in excellent + condition. So deals CAN be found if you're patient.
On the other hand, as Fisch330 stated above, sometimes you have to pay a little more to get the road name/paint scheme you want...especially if you don't have the skills or desire to custom paint/letter it.
Keep us posted regarding your decision!
The MTH Rail King have MSRP of $300.00 and Premier MSRP of $400.00.
Burbling Baldwins in action:
Two BIG pluses for the new Atlas version:
1. The NC&StL livery - FINALLY!
2. The correct Baldwin engine sounds as mentioned above.
PS: I do not care about the smoke - I keep the wicks moist and occasionally test my P3 diesel smoke units but do not use them.
I think I'm going to get the Atlas Lehigh Valley at least then probably the WP one depending how I like it.
Pricing should be announced in June. $400+ ??
MTM: Thanx for posting that video. Really neat to see. Can you imagine that those engines are now over 60 years old? Glad to see that someone or some people think enough about them to, not only save them, but to restore them operationally. They deserve special credit.
Paul Fischer
Looks to be $440. http://www.publicdeliverytrack...o-wp-vo-1000-diesel/
