enginear joe Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Anybody here have any photos of the AML K4? I was out of work when they were released. I have not been able to get one since. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayman4449 Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Hi Joe, I have both versions, which one did you want pics of? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enginear joe Posted January 23, 2014 Author Share Posted January 23, 2014 Either one that's handy Ray. I've never seen one in person. How do you like them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayman4449 Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 They are beautiful engines. If you have the chance to get one I would say it's worth the cost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayman4449 Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 *UPDATED* 03/03/2014 AML K4 Pacific (Post-War version) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayman4449 Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 *UPDATED* 03/03/2014 AML K4 Pacific (Pre-War Version) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enginear joe Posted February 7, 2014 Author Share Posted February 7, 2014 Wow Ray, they are beautiful! Thank you for sharing. I didn't know how detailed they were. That was a great value. About the only thing I could say, I wish they had the larger axled tender. Now, If I can find one....someday. Have you installed smoke or sound in it?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markoles Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 Ray, did you also get one of the prewar versions? I am awaiting a boiler shell from a guy in Scotland to modify my aristo pacific in to a more K-4ish version. Got the tender shell already.. I painted my wheels black, but upon further review, I believe I need to paint them green. Cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayman4449 Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 Anytime Joe Yeah i passed on them when they first clearanced them out at like $800 years ago cause I felt like I just had enough stuff, but when the opportunity recently arose to get these I could not let them go. They are fully done up with MTH smoke units and DCSd. I agree at the $800 they were selling for they were and are a great value. I think i've only run one of them once and I think I recall that it slowed down up my steep grade pulling a passenger train. I recall this may have been something raised by others in the past which points to a gearing/motor selection issue. That said I wouldn't hesitate to get one if you come across one in the future. Mark, yeah I have one of each of the two versions the produced. I may try to take more pictures later when I have more light available to get better picture quality and will post more detail pics of both including the front pilot. Yes the drivers on this one are green. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enginear joe Posted February 7, 2014 Author Share Posted February 7, 2014 Could I just swap out the motors then? Like the USA one's? Is it geared so bad that no motor could do it? What a shame they didn't test this before it went into production. Got to be one more reason I say that MTH makes the best engines for the best value. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayman4449 Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 Well first off in mentioning it I wouldn't assume that the engine is unusable. Would really depend on what you're tying to pull with it and on what grades. My guess is that if you got one you would not find enough issue with what has been observed to feel that any action was needed. Would a different motor help things, perhaps. Would have to dedicate sometime to understand exactly what the specs were of the existing motor then look into motors that had greater torque for instance. I honestly wouldn't worry at all about it. If you want one get one and if you really have issues then maybe look into it more. I doubt seriously that anyone that has bought these engines has really been forced due to the issue being really serious enough to justify anyone having having to actually replaced their motors. Yeah I don't know on the testing, given the issues we see across all the mfg lines you continue to see things that are overlooked that you would think would be just part of a whole list of things looked at closely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enginear joe Posted February 7, 2014 Author Share Posted February 7, 2014 Yeah, if it's just minor I'd ignore it. Thought you were describing a bigger problem. I just noticed that the center driver is blind. That's interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 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... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayman4449 Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 Interesting to hear. So is that pulling 6 heavyweights on level track? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enginear joe Posted February 8, 2014 Author Share Posted February 8, 2014 must explain why everyone bought two of them!! I wonder if I could get that gearing from NWSL?? Maybe the internal gears could be swapped? probably too tough to work inside??? Did you mean 11.8:1? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 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... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayman4449 Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 I like the response you got on 6 heavyweights being too much lol. That is good to know tho, I will probably limit these to running 4 heavyweights on the layout. I do remember at the time that even I was surprised that they went to blow-out price so fast. Again, underscores how small the G scale market is that a Pennsy K4 would not sell fast enough to get their inventory converted back to cash for the next production orders. Could on the other hand be because of the motor gearing issue and it would have been too much work to go back and change the gearing in all the engines and rather just blow them out with lesson learned. Even the MTH GS4 that has a smaller motor can pull my 10 MTH Passenger cars up my grade hours on end. It slows down a little but manages just fine. I have also done modifications on that engine as well to help the motor breathe and stay cool. (It's a modification I recommend for anyone that has one. Info posted on my website). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markoles Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 I remember when these came out. The price point, even for a metal engine, was pretty high. Also, I believe they did not have lights or smoke. Still, the K4's I've seen in person looked very nice. I posted in the other AML thread that I thought there were issues with electrical, etc.. Seems my memory was pretty close! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayman4449 Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 I updated the photos above with ones I took last night and now includes both versions the Pre and Post-War. This set has better quality and processing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 Damn fine looking locomotives! I'd say you have the everything right as that Brunswick Green is a tough color to photograph! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayman4449 Posted March 2, 2014 Share Posted March 2, 2014 Ok glad you notice on the colors! I have finally realized I need to mount the camera on a tripod and do really long exposure times to get the colors this accurate. Also requires some adjustment to lighten the dark areas to get a more balanced looking photograph. Also have a TON of display lights setup to do the photos! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markoles Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 My K4 boiler shell showed up Friday afternoon. Looks a lot like the AML post war version. I'll take some photos when I get a chance.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rayman4449 Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 Excellent. So will this be a semi-drop in replacement for the existing one you have or? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markoles Posted March 3, 2014 Share Posted March 3, 2014 It is based on an earlier version of the Aristo Pacific, but the boiler is now fixed to the frame. The current design I have allows the boiler top to be removed by unscrewing 4 screws. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaDaGing Posted November 5, 2014 Share Posted November 5, 2014 I'm a New Member and looking for a schematic drawing of the AML K4. I have one that was converted to battery power with the batteries in the boiler. I do not have any of the AML manuals or drawings. Do any members have these available? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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