Download - O scale trains

seven volts and 700 mA, the lights came on. I measured a
speed at these readings of 2.2 scale MPH. At 12 volts DC,
the locomotive drew one ampere on level track, with a
string of 12 heavy hoppers. The current rose to 1.4 amperes
on my 3%+ grade with the same string of cars. This is excellent
for such a large locomotive. Scale speed at 12 volts DC
was about 25 scale MPH.
Using DCS, the locomotive ran smoothly and quietly in
both directions. The smoothest slow speed I achieved was
at 2 scale MPH on the handheld display. I coupled up the
hopper string and walked off with the load as if it wasn’t
there. I set the speed on the handheld at 20 scale MPH
and the train ran at that speed all around the layout, even
up and down the stiff grades. Performance under DCS was
excellent.
Picking Some Nits
I found lots of things to pick at on the model, but none
of them really serious. To start, the coloring of the lettering
seems off to me. It’s too orange. The lettering on the
rear of the tender reads “35 tons” where it should read “30
tons”. The only N&W tender with a 35-ton capacity was
behind the J. Maybe when 1218 was in excursion service
its tender was rated at 35 tons, and this is where that notation
came from.
The engine walkways should be perforated. Instead,
they’re dimpled as a compromise. The mechanical lubricator
linkage is oversized and connected improperly to the
valve gear. The siderods are one piece rather than jointed,
but it’s hardly noticeable. The bell on 1242 is centered, but
should be offset to the engineer’s side of the boiler. The
handrails on the front engine porch are shaped incorrectly
and missing a crossbrace. The feedwater casting on the
smokebox sits too low, and is missing a small pipe that
goes back to the stack. Two pipes on the fireman’s side
of the smokebox are cast-in rather than added. The air
pumps have no piping to the air reservoirs. These details
can all be fixed if you want but, unless you are intimately
familiar with a Class A, you probably won’t notice most
of these things.
My only real issue with the model is the area of trailing
truck. It is the correct sideframe style, but the overall shape
of the truck at the front is incorrect. There are no ashpans
simulated, so there is quite a bit of air that can be seen
above and in front of the trailing truck. I presume this was
designed this way for 3-Rail curve clearance. This can be
improved by replacing the truck. Precision Scale Co. makes
the correct trailing truck in kit form (#PST-9145. $36) and
the ashpans can be added easily. Maybe I’ll do an article on
this later.
The Bottom Line
The N&W Class A was done in brass in the late 1980s,
and that one does not have a great reputation as a model
that runs or holds together well. Williams did a Class A in
2-Rail as its last brass model, and that one has issues with
undersized boiler dimensions. The M.T.H. N&W Class A
looks very good, is painted and lettered, and runs extremely
well. It ain’t perfect, but for most of us it’s certainly acceptably
close.
Interestingly, M.T.H. wasn’t even going to make any of
the Class As in 2-Rail. A bunch of dedicated N&W fans
lobbied M.T.H. to do them in 2-Rail, and this is the result.
There are only 20 of each number in 2-Rail, so you better
move if you want one.
References:
The A: Norfolk & Western’s Mercedes of Steam, Ed
King, 1989, Trans-Anglo Books publisher, CA.
N&W: Giant of Steam - Revised Edition, Colonel Lewis
Ingles Jeffries, 2005, N&W Historical Society Publisher,
VA.
Norfolk & Western Railway: Pocahontas Coal Carrier,
Richard E. Prince, 1980, R. E. Prince Publisher, NE.
Locomotive Cyclopedia, Vol. 1, 1998, Hundman Publishing,
WA.
July/August ’07- O Scale Trains • 63