08-12-2024, 06:36 PM
A box arrived containing this little brass beauty today, and I decided to divert an hour or so this evening to checking it out.
My initial thought was to run it DC through my Prodigy Express2 to check functionality. Errnnnntttt!!!! After a little research, system does not support DC. I'd already given away all of my DC throttles and an older DCC Prodigy that had a DC option, but all I really needed to verify motor, gear and light operation was something in the range of 0 to 12 Volts DC. Got out my drawer of static AC/DC transformers and picked a 6V and a 12V, wired up a couple of track joiners and got a couple of sections of flex track. Set it all up in my workshop and checked - all systems good to go - motor runs, lights light, gears make the thing move. The only negative is the noise. Sounds like my wife's mixer when she's mashing potatoes. Well, maybe not that bad, but considerably louder than any of my other locomotives. I'm thinking about doing a teardown and a full stem-to-stern lubrication and cleaning to see if maybe I can reduce the noise. As a backup, this weekend I into a couple of auctions for a Athearn can motor (won), and I put in a best offer for a Southern Pacific RS2 (I believe it's an AHM) that the owner claimed "does not run well". Perfect donor in case I have to regear (I hope). One of the "huge" differences between the AHM and this brass unit is the size of the railings. The AHM piping might be 5 to 6 times larger in diameter (especially on the front and rear railings, and just makes the thing scream "FAKE!" in comparison to the one pictured. The AHM also doesn't have the grab irons or the corner lighting or bell.
Paint job is pretty good (considering the age) except for some green specs on the top surface of the cab and long hood. The photo below shows some of this on the top of the long hood above the area between "E" and "L" between "Erie" and "Lackawanna". I suspect that it's corrosion. Brass is a copper alloy, so verdigris should be expected if it's not stored in a cool dry place. The locations of the specs don't bother me at all since I will eventually weather it to something only a mother could love, with the top surfaces getting particularly abused.
My initial thought was to run it DC through my Prodigy Express2 to check functionality. Errnnnntttt!!!! After a little research, system does not support DC. I'd already given away all of my DC throttles and an older DCC Prodigy that had a DC option, but all I really needed to verify motor, gear and light operation was something in the range of 0 to 12 Volts DC. Got out my drawer of static AC/DC transformers and picked a 6V and a 12V, wired up a couple of track joiners and got a couple of sections of flex track. Set it all up in my workshop and checked - all systems good to go - motor runs, lights light, gears make the thing move. The only negative is the noise. Sounds like my wife's mixer when she's mashing potatoes. Well, maybe not that bad, but considerably louder than any of my other locomotives. I'm thinking about doing a teardown and a full stem-to-stern lubrication and cleaning to see if maybe I can reduce the noise. As a backup, this weekend I into a couple of auctions for a Athearn can motor (won), and I put in a best offer for a Southern Pacific RS2 (I believe it's an AHM) that the owner claimed "does not run well". Perfect donor in case I have to regear (I hope). One of the "huge" differences between the AHM and this brass unit is the size of the railings. The AHM piping might be 5 to 6 times larger in diameter (especially on the front and rear railings, and just makes the thing scream "FAKE!" in comparison to the one pictured. The AHM also doesn't have the grab irons or the corner lighting or bell.
Paint job is pretty good (considering the age) except for some green specs on the top surface of the cab and long hood. The photo below shows some of this on the top of the long hood above the area between "E" and "L" between "Erie" and "Lackawanna". I suspect that it's corrosion. Brass is a copper alloy, so verdigris should be expected if it's not stored in a cool dry place. The locations of the specs don't bother me at all since I will eventually weather it to something only a mother could love, with the top surfaces getting particularly abused.
Check out my "Rainbows in the Gorge" website: http://morristhemoosetm.wixsite.com/rainbows