Chuck

Not really as the lower the resistance the greater the load. See with only a 4 ohm load the QSI board must be sensing it as a short. If I remember correctly USA smoke unit heaters are in the 16 ohm range and that would be less of a load on the circuit that's driving it. QSI documentation is bad..real bad as they should state what the heater driving circuit will handle in ohms.

So what I did to correct this very serious problem was to start over and remove all of the stock USA Trains brushes and associated holders & wiring and then mount MTH passenger car power pickup brushes to the bottom of the frames...but I could only make this modification fit/ work on 6 axles instead of 8 because of the lower gearcase covers. But with the tender picking power from 2 axles/ 4 wheels and the engine picking from 6 axles/ 12 wheels that gives it 16 power pickup points...more than enough. To start this complicated modification I completely disassembled the locomotive to make it easier to work on. Then I removed all the stock power pickup brushes, holders & wiring and then make my own wiring harnesses that will plug into the MTH power pickup assemblies. After that it was time to modify the bottom covers so the new brush assemblies would have a place to sit nice & safe...thank goodness for the Dremel w/ the flex-shaft drive Here's the MTH brush assemblies that I'm using..of course I buy all my parts thru Raymond Oh, I made some plastic bottom covers for the brush assemblies so the bare wires stay safely tucked away.

Okay, I'm not bashing the excellent finely detailed USA Trains Big Boy at all...Well it is too heavy but that's another topic. What I am bringing to attention here is a major manufacturing flaw that I discovered after running it for a few days. What it would do is short itself out electrically for no real reason. Sometimes it would short itself out when changing direction. The dang problem drove me crazy trying to figure it out. Every drive wheel has a carbon brush rubbing against the backside to pickup power from the rails. Problem is the brushes are located in the frame incorrectly. The stainless steel drive wheel tires are insulated from the black wheel centers/ discs by some kind of insulating material that's applied to the drive wheel before the tire/ rim is pressed on. But the power pickup brushes are positioned so once they start wearing/ or shift in their holder and rub on the driver center they bridge the insulated section then they energize the whole damn engine & tender as it's all die-cast metal. If both sides happen to do it the engine shorts out and blows the fuses I have at the power supply. If there's any bare wires touching the inside of the boiler then either the lighting voltage boards or in my case the ProtoSound 2 boards will get fried at the same time. Here's a pic of the problem...the red arrows show where the red electrical insulating material is between the tire/ rim and the driver center and clearly shows how the power pickup brushes are incorrectly positioned..major manufacturing flaw! Yes USA Trains is aware of the problem but they offer no support other than to change the brushes when they start wearing Off course this is no problem for the battery power crowd.

Bob, I was really proud how well that NW2 turned out and it's looking great..along with your Hudson

The G Gauge smokers are around 4 ohm...maybe 4.6 max. I'll bet that it's too much of a load for the QSI electronics which means they're not as efficient as the MTH PS2 boards are. 6 amps draw for smoke...WOW!!

That's what I mean is I don't understand why in 2007 they didn't offer the F-7 A-A sets both powered..unless maybe they ran out of slave boards at the time?? So a A-A set cost $679.99 and you only ended up with 1 powered unit...but they were selling F-3 A-A sets both powered for only $20.00 more??

Sometimes I wonder about MTH as the 2010 catalog shows the F-7's only being offered as one unit being powered like this.. These are the Union Pacific F-7's... 70-2090-1 ProtoSound 2.0 A-Unit $429.95 70-2090-3 Non-Powered B Unit $199.95 70-2090-4 Non-Powered A Unit $249.95 It's the same pricing for all 5 F-7 paint schemes being GN, UP, SF, M&M and SP. But the F-3's were listed as A-A sets with both A units being powered like the Western Pacific F-3 Diesel A-A Set (4 motors) 70-2012-1 w/ Protosound 2 for $699.95 The 2007 catalog is when the F-7's first shown in CN, NP, SF & CNW paint. Listed as F-7 A-A sets (4 motors) at a price of $699.95 I had the 70-2043-1 SF Yellow Bonnet F-7 A-A Set and it indeed had both A units powered. Now the 2013 catalog makes vague reference to 2 motors in each A unit. It'll be interesting to see what actually gets produced!

Oh I sure will. This is the second NW2 that I've converted to PS2. The first was a PRR version I did a few years back and then sold to Robert Kubasko somewhere out in Pennsylvania. Even fit dual USA fan driven smoke units in the shell along with all electronics & a 3" speaker in the fuel tank. Operating ProtoCouplers installed too...it wouldn't be a switcher without them

Dang fine looking track...and trains Do the Marklin slip switches work well as they look nice? MTH advertises that the One Gauge trains will work down to code 250 track.

Larry, It's a USA NW2 that I've been working on for about a year now. When I'm done it'll have PS2 in it. I'm trying to copy this loco

Great engines..Let's see more! Here's my latest projects.

Thanks!

Larry, Great job on the E8's

Bjorn, Thanks for the info as that answers my question about using Marklin track & MTH Trains...Dang! That track had a nice look to it

At one time I owned some Great Trains F40PH's that had NWSL trucks under them. From what I can remember they had what looked like aluminum wheels, sorta like what Lionel uses. I traded them to my dear departed friend The_Other_Ray years ago for something WOW! With gearing like that I bet those K-Line loco's haul ass??!! Joe, did you happen to get the numbers off the motor while you were inside the drive??

I've been eyeing up Marklin track for my indoor layout as it's more in-scale to 1:32 as I believe that it's code 200?? But what type is it? I mean I see on eBay what looks and is described as extruded solid stainless steel construction but then the next listing describes it as being hollow or made like Lionel tubular track? Marklins' website isn't much help but does show quite an assortment of switches like straight, curved, slip, 3-way, pre-made crossover etc.

I was kinda thinking the same thing, or maybe change them to USA Trains type or Lionel perhaps?

benshell, That's good to hear that they will power a smoke unit! What's odd is after a year or so of all the hoopla announcing the pulsed smoke there really isn't much to show them in action on You Tube or anywhere online come to think about it. enginear joe, At one time QSI announced on their website that the Quantum Magnums (and maybe Titans?) would be able to work on DC power, DCC, DCS & TMCC...Guess that didn't happen!

It's been over a year since QSI introduced the Titan decoders. They were advertised as having the ability to power a smoke unit in a steam engine with in-sync with driver revolution puffing smoke. I've searched You Tube and came up with 1 decent vid, and ironically enough it's a AML K4 but it's tuned to something like 2 chugs per driver revolution whereas it should be a prototypical 4. I've heard reports where the smaller 6 - 12 amp Titan won't drive a MTH smoke unit without overheating after a few minutes. The suggested "fix" was to use the bigger 10 - 20 amp Titan! WOW!! A 20 amp driver circuit to operate a smoke unit?

Mark..LOL on the 600 hundred cars That's a "joke"about a certain individual on the forums that always has more than the next guy. I have 6 Dash-9's...Oh yeah well I have 60!! Yeah I do know about Rays GS-4 fiasco!

Yep same old sh*t with him...what I've seen of his latest is he pre-ordered 40 of the USAT Bi-Level autoracks..but the only pic he showed of them was 10 empty boxes. Then again when he has no layout to run them on what do we expect? I don't think he really owns any trains as its all his brothers. Anytime "he" puts on a show his brother gets all the credit.

Mark, Your correct about Bachmann as I forgot that some of their rolling stock can be used as 1:29/ 1:32...heck, Ray has what?? 130 of their coal hoppers? (inside joke..I have over 600 ) Piko is a kind of weird duck as the 2 bay hopper, boxcar, reefer, ore car and caboose that's in the starter sets are made from the old MDC molds which are 1:32. Mainline America located near Gary, Indiana claims to have bought and brought back from Hungary the original MDC molds but now I see MainlineAmerica.com is gone..and how can Piko be using the same molds unless they cut there own which I highly doubt?? I never seen the TEE or the passenger cars that they've recently released so can't comment on those but I did call Piko America once and asked about scale...Lady that answered the phone said "All Piko products are 1:29 scale"... AML wants Hudson pre-orders with no $$$ down...I find that highly amusing! I'll bet if they changed that to a 1:32 live steam & electric version it'd be here by Christmas 2014

On another forum a so called AML "expert" has recently disclosed to have "insider" info pertaining to AML's production schedule of 1:29 scale products. Here it goes First AML stated "No Dreyfuss Hudsons unless more pre-orders made"...What a joke as AML/ Accucrap a year ago promised delivery NOW Second the GP60 is to arrive this fall?? Another joke as this engine has been promised for what? Over 5 years now??..Sorry but has anybody seen the prototype?? Manufacturers always build a prototype at least a year in advance Third...A SD9 has been promised for 2015??...LOL as stated above..Where's the prototype Fourth..A 50' single door Hi-Cube boxcar is supposedly slated for 2015?? That's hilarious as where's the prototype So what this AML insider "expert" has really posted in nothing more than a bunch of lip service..or a basket full of wishes?? AML/ Accucrap can't even deliver their new code 332 stainless steel track that's been "promised" for over 2 years now let alone something really intricate like new locomotives Speaking about not delivering the 1:32 Allegheny has been promised for what?? 10 years now?? Accucraft couldn't even make the HAGRS 2011 PS-4750 show cars in time..some took as long as 16 months after the show to ship Seems to me that 1:29 scale is leading a slow death as there's only what? 2 players in it now?? Looking at Accucraft's latest offerings that have shipped they're all 1:32 scale with new brass passenger cars being offered...someday. Here's their list for 2014 arrivals and only a single 1:29 scale locomotive, a 0-6-0 with a Vandy tender..the 0-6-0 itself has been released for a few years now. ARRIVAL SOON - 2014 7/8" Scale - Fairymead 0-4-2 Baldwin, Limited Production, Live Steam 1:20.3 Scale - Shay 28T Class B, Classic Series, Eletric 1:20.3 Scale - Shay 28T Class B, Classic Series, Live Steam 1:32 Scale - DB Class 2-10-2, Limited Production, Live Steam 1:32 Scale - Black 5 4-6-0, Limited Production, Live Steam 1:32 Scale - LNER & BR A4 Mallard, Limited Production, Alcohol Fired 1:32 Scale - MK1 Coach 1:32 Scale - Smooth Side Passenger Cars 1:29 Scale - USRA 0-6-0 w/ Vandy Tender, Live Steam Flex Track - Code 332, Stainless Steel, USA Style Curve Track - T213-08 8ft Dia., Code 332, Brass Curve Track - T213-10 10ft Dia., Code 332, Brass Switch - R3, Code 332, Brass

Ray, Yeah that was pulling 6 on level track. They did better after I pulled 2 lead weights that were hugging the motor, Removing the weights allowed more air in around the motor. Joe, I don't know the exact ratio as I don't have a motor here infront of me...going by memory from say 5 years ago. Originally these K4's were made under the Khando badge but shipped in Accucraft boxes. First released was the Pre-War version and interestingly it had no name badge like most Accucraft locos do. When the Post-War version came out a month or so later they were sold under the AML brand and those locos have a Accucraft badge on the bottom with a serial number. I called Accucraft and got Khando's Las Vegas phone number then called to explain the overheating problem to the owner. I was told that I was expecting that loco to do way too much pulling 6 heavyweights and to lighten the load Over the years I've had 4 of these and I know where 3 are..the 4th one got sold on eBay years ago. Just like any other Accucraft loco all 4 of these had problems out of the box from binds and clunks in the motion to shorts in the wheels. I had one that had the gearbox on the drivers installed backwards. The original St. Aubins price was $1,399.99 in the spring of 2007. After less than a year St. Aubin's bought all the remaining stock of K4's from Accucraft...something like 65 of each and ended up blowing them out @ $649.99 each Here's the original ad...

It's not just a swap the motor out "fix" as it uses a Pittman motor with a integral gearcase. If I remember right the stock ratio is like 11.5:1 which is too high but it will go over 100 smph. It needs something like a 1:18.1 ratio gearbox but finding the exact fit maybe a challenge. The way they come stock if you pull say 6 Aristo heavyweights the motor will overheat in about 20 minutes and the thing stops. Double headed will run all day Here's a few pics of the motor/ gearcase and it's not an easy find...