I purchased this at the ECLSTS this March.
Here is my non biased, non professional review.

The loco itself is beautiful, nicely detailed, and a pretty heavy piece.
It is also a lot larger then the USAT 44 ton loco… as it should be considering it is 1:20 scale.

I like that these engines come through plain with no lettering, this way it gave me my first chance to try lettering it on my own… with some decals from Stan Cedarleaf.

I was finally able to give it it’s first real run on my outdoor layout this past weekend, I have mixed feelings on it’s overall performance.

The Pro’s:
Looks fantastic, and it’s huge… very easy too see and grab your attention.
The headlights take very little applied voltage to be on full brightness.
On level ground it has great pulling power…
Negotiates turns & switchtracks with ease (I do have 8’ diameter curves and R3 switches)
Slow speed operation is beautiful… on level ground.

The Con’s:
The engine has what I call a waddle, it moves back and forth (side to side) as it travels on the rails. This I find very frustrating with a product of this price point and build quality.
It also has a very annoying squeak/scratching sound that I can’t seem to cure at the moment. I have lubed every moving part and it still makes noise… I hate noise.
I think it is coming from the motor brushes pressing against the back of the wheels, I may need to put a bit of conductor grease on the wheels to see if this stops the noise… but it is loud and distracting when you just want to sit and enjoy watching the trains run.
My biggest complaint with this loco is how poorly it deals with even the slightest grade, it stalls right out, even with only (4) AML & Bachmann 1:20 cars trailing it. The counter problem, is when you apply more throttle so it makes the slight incline… it now goes way to fast when it hits a downward grade.
Really wish that this engine had some type of a automatic speed control, it would help this piece a lot.

I really do like this piece, even with the issues that I have stated. It most likely will end up operating on my reversing section which is very level and will eliminate the stalling/speeding issues. It will also be operating at very low speed which will make the waddle less noticeable.

But I have to say again, it does look great outside!

It’s, uh, VERY yellow, isn’t it?

tac, ig, ken the GFT & The Ray-Ban Boys

Lovely pictures. I have been ‘wondering’ about this piece as well and after seeing the pictures makes me think harder about one.

Could it be the siderods and counterweights that make it waddle? I know several steam locomotives do that because of the reciprocating masses.

Lorna

lorna dane said:

Could it be the siderods and counterweights that make it waddle? I know several steam locomotives do that because of the reciprocating masses.

It very well could be, I really have not tinkered around with it that much to dissect what the cause is, but that certainly seems like a good place to start.

And by slight incline, I mean this corner here that I just re-did to make even more level then before:

I don’t even think it is 1% grade, as I made this as level as possible.
My USAT diesels don’t even flinch when going through this section.

Could the slowdown be a power issue? I’m thinking that this loco may be drawing a bit more current than your others and you may be getting voltage drop on the grade. If you have a hefty power supply, try running a feeder to the corner about mid grade and see if that helps.

Do you run the USA’s at the same slow speed?

Doubtful it is a power issue, there are multiple taps around the layout coming from the power supply. One thing I made sure of on the new railway!
Power is a Bridgewerks MAG200(?) it’s a two track 15a transformer.
I had the USAT F series diesel running just as slow as the Accucraft, never stalled out or sped off going down the slight decline.

15A should be plenty, so long as you are using a reasonably sized wire to your taps, that’s probably not it. If you have a voltage meter you could clip it on the track and watch as the train negotiates the hill. It should stay constant.

Jon Radder said:

. If you have a voltage meter you could clip it on the track and watch as the train negotiates the hill. It should stay constant.

I used 10gauge cable for the power runs. Next chance I get to run this engine I will setup up my voltage meter and see what happens.

If you run it on it’s back, can you see if the wheels do not run “true”?

Greg

I can try that in the morning before I head to work, I will see if I can make a quick video of it also.

http://youtu.be/Tp4kB3lPQ7o

[youtube]http://youtu.be/Tp4kB3lPQ7o[/youtube]

http://youtu.be/pjnyGh5a8Yo

[youtube]http://youtu.be/pjnyGh5a8Yo[/youtube]

Had time to post them before I went to bed…
I think it’s pretty self explanatory if you watch both videos… I have a few bad sets of wheels!

Yep, the wheels look like they are cams… i.e. runout in the diameter, like the hole in the wheel was not in dead center.

They don’t look too wobbly (side to side)

They need trued up in a lathe… if the tires are stainless, then no problem, find a buddy with a lathe… if they are plated, then you will remove the plating, but success here depends on the base metal.

Knowing accucraft, I’m guessing that there are tires on the wheels, they are not just a single casting.

I wish you luck.

Greg

Wheels that are not true to their centers is ridiculous from a high priced and usually high quality brand such as Accucraft. It is what I would expect to find on a cheap plastic toy with a clown driver.
How could any customer accept that lack of quality. It is an engineering joke.

Andrew

I sent Accucraft a email this morning, I don’t have any contact information accept for the email address on their website… So we will see if anything happens.

Come on Andrew, tell us how you really feel!

p.s. I agree, perhaps not so vehemently, but even Aristo could make wheels that ran true, and on tapered axles no less!

Greg, I’m appalled. Lately I’ve seem a Regner boiler untested that leaks now Accucraft wonky wheels. LEGO is looking good!

Andrew