Razor_Antilles

I believe I recognize it from the mail-in survey they had back in 2015, also. So... just for fun, a little bit of speculation. Those of you lucky fellows who've been able to run the USAT Big Boy; do you think an FEF-3 tender, which doesn't seem to be all that different from a 4-8-8-4 tender, will manage a diameter of less than 16 feet? A friend and I are dearly hoping that it will be able to manage 10, but we're not holding our breath. The Hudson can manage 8 foot without trouble, but it's much, MUCH happier on 10 foot, at least in my experience. Thoughts?

This will be spectacular to see! Has there been an official announcement somewhere about a release date, specs, track curve requirements, etc? USATrains.com has nothing that I've seen. Based on the tender, I'm expecting it to be 16ft minimum diameter track requirement.

For my part, I wish the Allegheny was in 1:29, not 1:32. There's been a lot of debate over which locomotive was bigger and better, the Big Boy, or the Allegheny. It'd be a lot of fun to 'settle' the debate on G Scale railways with both models being metal and the same scale. (We all know the answer to the debate, though: they're both awesome)

Can't go wrong with buying whatever USA Trains track you need straight from charlesro.com or ebay, as well as buying aristocraft track on ebay as well. I've had excellent results getting new and used track. With Ray's explanation of track needs, it doesn't seem like you'll have any issues at all running whatever 1:32 or 1:29 G scale you want; the only hitches will be whether you run battery, DCC, or track power.

Yeah, that 3-axle element has been something I've been trying to work out a solution to in my head over the last few months. One idea I had was just to let it be a free-rolling electrical pickup axle, maybe, or run an extended drive rod from the middle axle to the trailing axle so all three would be driving.

The USAT GP38 is a WONDERFUL little locomotive; I love my little Norfolk Southern Geep. As far as battery power/radio control, yes, it is possible to do it; one solution is to have a battery in a box car behind the locomotive with the receiver inside the engine or fuel tank itself. Be careful, though: some parts of the doors on the GP38 like to break when you take the body off according to a friend of mine who did some work on one. As far as what parts to use or how to wire it all up, that's something totally beyond me at the moment, since I use track power only. If you keep an eye on the ebay user pikeup45 he occasionally lists GP38s retrofitted for battery/remote control/airwire. No guarantee the next one he lists will be the road name you're looking for, though. Good luck!

I did briefly consider that, but this engine leads and occasionally runs solo; I mix things up quite a bit, so having all my locos able to run is crucial. Would that weight-bearing problem be solved by not modifying the side frames or axle positions and just working with the motor block itself to accommodate the USAT motor? Though, much will depend on whether or not the length of the USAT GP38 motor is equivalent to the Aristocraft Dash 9/SD45. From some rough eyeballing they -appear- to be, but I haven't investigated very heavily into those details, yet.

Thanks, Rayman! Also, I hear you, Chuck; the prices on UP dash 9s are especially crazy. Makes me hope that USAT can buy the dash 9 molds and re-release them, but I'd rather see an ES44, but I'm not holding my breath for either case. I did do a basic measurement last year and concluded that SD70 motors won't fit in Dash 9 trucks because they're too big, but I haven't compared sizes on the GP38 motors to the available space. I am, however, expecting a similar result, that being GP38 motors are a touch too big to just drop in and fit. Much as I'd love to have my dash 9 keep pace with my SD70, getting it up to GP38 speed would be good enough. Also an easier mod job... maybe.

I've been tossing this idea around ever since I got my Dash 9 from ebay last year and discovered how abysmally slow and loud it is compared to the USAT SD70, and even the USAT GP38. How feasible is it to replace the Aristocraft motors with USA Trains motors to get its speed up close to that of the GP38? Will I need to replace the control board along with the motors?

Looking good so far! The GEVOs are engines that I devoutly hope and pray someone kits up and releases into the mass market now that Polk is all the way gone, and with it the hope of more dash 9s. I'd love to have an NS ES44 with that longer, thicker radiator housing compared to the dash 9. Are you building in 1:29 or 1:32?

I'm really curious about the FEF, but based on the info and speculation earlier in this thread, I'd say we have at least three more months to wait before we even enter the window of possibility on an announcement of any sort.

Oh sure it's possible. The real question is, how elaborate do you want it to be? If it's a simple track-and-train layout that needs only enough square footage to accommodate it, that's no problem; you just need to figure out the best way to transport your desired track amount and rolling stock from source to location. If you want to have scenery and buildings and terrain and all sorts of other goodies... well... that's when it can get complicated. The level of detail for your setup will determine just how complicated it will be to make happen. Edit: My g scale layout is not permanent, and what I've found useful is buying appropriately-sized containers to hold multiple pieces of rolling stock or locomotives safely in order to enable more efficient storage and transport. If you have a Container Store nearby, measure the pieces you know you'll be moving, determine how much track you want to have, and purchase containers accordingly. It also goes a long way towards helping to get more stuff into one storage space or transport vehicle, because the original manufacturer boxes for USA Trains and Aristocraft (the only two I have experience with) are nooooooot space-friendly at all, even though they work wonderfully at protecting their contents, as long as you aren't intending to use them as fodder for catapults

When it comes to your curves, the limiting factors will be two things: what locomotives you want to run and how heavy they are, and what rolling stock you want to run and how long it is. 8-foot diameter circles will accommodate just about everything locomotive-wise except for the USA Trains Big Boy, which needs 16-foot diameter and also weighs fifty pounds. I don't know enough about the MTH offerings to give good advice on those. I don't know if any Aristocraft locomotives need diameters bigger than 8-foot, either. Rolling stock-wise, 8-foot diameter will accommodate everything except the USA Trains two-tier auto carriers and articulated 5-unit intermodals, which need a minimum of 10-foot diameter. Bigger diameter circles do give more realistic appearances, and also creates a lot more flexibility for rolling stock in general.

That seems to be about the same for USA Trains, too; a friend and I are waiting to see their next ultimate and prestige releases/re-releases, because now that I have a J1e Hudson, a few New York Central aluminum passenger cars would look mighty fine behind it; those are supposedly due to be restocked at the end of February, but we'll see. It'd be nice if they restocked on their individual intermodal cars, too. I've looked at some MTH stuff, and it does look nice, especially their big steam locos. I wish it was 1:29 instead of 1:32, though...

One of my factors for running the same consist for an extended period is how hot the power supply gets, especially if I'm running more than one locomotive at a time. If the power supply gets too warm after a while, I stop that particular line, or take one locomotive off the track. Individual locomotives, ranging from my GP38 all the way to my Hudson, seem to only get the USA Trains Power 10 barely warm at all, even after an extended run time of around an hour, typically with a mixed consist of heavy cars. With proper lubrication and using both 8-foot and 10-foot diameter track on separate lines, I've yet to encounter serious problems with either locomotives, track, or rolling stock. Since I only have experience with USA Trains and Aristocraft locomotives, and those in good condition, I have a high degree of confidence in their performance for long running times.

Hello! As a relative novice to G scale trains, here are some things I've learned over the last year and a half of collecting: For small spaces, small locomotives and rolling stock are king. I started with a USA Trains GP38 and a few cars on a 5-foot diameter circle with about 10 feet of straight total; made for a good-sized loop, but that was just the start of it. I ran a mixture of USAT American and Ultimate Series, but nothing bigger than their 50-foot box car. Later, I acquired a USAT SD70, which requires 8-foot diameter track, so I got some of that, and then more straightaway, and then started collecting intermodal cars and 55-foot modern tank cars, none of which will work on anything smaller than 8-foot diameter track. The downside is, nothing I run now will work on anything smaller than 8-foot diameter, unless I leave about two-thirds of my rolling stock and three of my four locomotives put away. The bigger, nicer rolling stock needs a lot of space to swing, especially the SD70 and Dash 9, the intermodals and the tank cars. If you don't intend to run huge rolling stock or convert your couplers to Kadee (which I believe requires a minimum diameter to function properly without incident--I don't use them, so I don't know), you might be able to do a TON in 10x10. If you believe you'll be content with diesels like the GP38/GP7/9 in 1:29 scale from USA Trains, 10x10 will give you space for a decent-sized layout, provided you're only going to run small rolling stock, or rolling stock that is compatible with very small diameter track. If you're hoping to run a heavyweight passenger set, you can do that in 10x10... but you'll have precious little room on the edges of your space for anything else. If you want two lines, getting two 8-foot diameter circles to fit in that will be tricky, but it can be done. I know very little about MTH products, because I'm a 1:29 USA Trains/Aristocraft devotee, but it's possible their product line is more flexible because they're making things in 1:32, which is just smaller enough to perhaps create more options. Good luck to you!

Finally had a chance to work on my Hudson; i tried to separate the boiler, but I didn't find the right screws and I didn't want to get carried away, so I switch to Chuck's suggestion to lubricate the power pickups, and now the hudson positively whispers around the track; it's so quiet the loudest noise from loco or tender is the faint clicking of the drive rods. Thank you! I still plan to get in there and put some lubricant on the gearbox, but right now the black beast is quieter than my SD70.

Well how about that; small world! That would be fantastic, thank you! I'll send you a private message about that so we can work out the details.

Hello all, I recently picked up a USAT Hudson that's old enough to have been made before they all came with sound by default, so it lacks the Phoenix system, but I'm not worried about that at the moment. The locomotive has been someone's display model for years, and in addition to needing additional cleaning, I know for a fact it needs some lubrication beyond the visible moving parts/axles. So, I would greatly appreciate some advice on the following: 1.) Proper lubrication to eliminate squeaking: How do I get access to the motor/gears? I've taken off the bottom cover plate to lubricate the insides of the axles in case there was some additional rub there, but I've only partially cleared up the squeak, and I'd prefer to not rip the bottom of the engine apart without good advice, first. Which lubricant should I use? I have some Labelle medium weight oil that I use on my diesels/rolling stock, but additional recommendations are welcome. Further note: the squeak is both a rhythmic sound when the drivers reach a certain point during forward/rear motion, in addition to a constant sound, which leads me to believe it's a dry gear somewhere nearer the motor than the axles. 2.) Coal load replacement/reloading: there are some chunks missing from the USAT load, and I haven't yet searched extensively to see what options there are. Would anyone have any recommendations on either authentic coal load filler or a really high quality fake substitute? 3.) Front/rear headlight replacement: I really don't like how dim the incandescent bulbs are on the locomotive, and I intend to replace them with warm white 3mm LEDs. Based on previous experience replacing the headlights on an Aristocraft Dash 9, I'm projecting that I'll need 200-330ohm 1/2 watt resistors to achieve desired luminence (as in, not as bright as my Dash 9, but pretty bright). I would appreciate any additional thoughts on this also: for reference, my power supplies are a USA Trains Train Power 10, and a Chicago Model International SuperBlue 165 (the predecessor to the Train Power 10). I haven't decided yet if I'm going to replace the marker lights with LEDs, because I like their present luminence. Additionally, while I know the Dash 9 draws an average of 6 volts without a consist, anyone's voltage numbers with the locomotive under load would likewise be appreciated so I can acquire the appropriate resistors. Thank you in advance for any tips, tricks, and advice!