The ill-forgotten Goose

[soat204]

Now, recently i have been looking into purchasing a Goose engine in HO. Ive seen them in stores and there around $160 to $200 some.
What i want to knw, What do I have to look for in a Goose engine when i do go and buy one??? Do they have certain Road names and numbers i should take into account? What is a good price for purchaseing?

 

[soat204]

Heres a Picture if by some chance some one doesnt knw what im talking about!!

 

[COMBAT]

Never been something I have wanted....

 

[Jim Krause]

That particular design was a three foot narrow gauge, home built product. I believe there are HO standard gauge versions of it also. If you are going to buy standard gauge, I would suggest getting a painted, unlettered one and freelance it to suit yourself. The term "galloping goose" was pretty generic in the 1920', 1930's era and applied to all sorts of small rail cars.

 

[TrainNut]

Even though mine was in N scale, you may still be able to glean some information of what you don't want from my recent encounter....
http://forum.zealot.com/t119709/

 

[CNJ999]

Amplifying on TrainNuts comments, one can not expect such tiny, feather-weight units to perform flawlessly like far heavier, die-cast steam locomotives. Folks today seem to expect operating miracles from the latest, expensive offerings but this simply does not happen. I'm sure the HO version will run somewhat better than the N example, I just wonder how much?

CNJ999

 

[Bones]

I posted in TrainNut's review thread, but I'll repeat what I said here.

The N scale DCC goose does have problems due to it's feather weight.
The N scale DC goose does not, in my experience. Since that post I have talked to 2 other people with the DC version. They have the same opinion as I do. It's a solid runner. No pickup problems, no stalling, it's not as fragile as it looks, and it is by far the quietest piece of equipment several of us have ever heard.
The N scale goose is whisper quiet.

I think the DCC version had to have too much weight removed to make room for circuitry.

But of course, any good hobby shop will let you run a piece of equipment before you buy it.

 

[alastairq]

it's a motorised bus......or lorry.....or charabanc....by Pierce-Arrow....or somesuch......

Like the Yuk version, the Colonel Stephens Model T railcars....they're 'done to death', in my view....a certain 'lack' of variety?
(which is why I shy away from US narrow gauge?)

now, buy a plastic lorry kit, stick in a motor, and have fun with detailing, and 'there's something to be proud of?

 

[MasonJar]

I have a Mack Railbus from Lambert. Even though it is brass, and HO, it still does not have the required weight. Even if it did, it only picks up on the two (2) rear driving wheels, and therefore will stall at any insulated frog or gap of any reasonable size.

The key to solving this problem was illustrated by a local shop owner who had a similar bus. He had equipped it with a UPS - uninterruptible power supply. His version was from Lenz - called a USP (uninterruptible signal processing). It's an add-on to a Lenx Gold decoder. So the solution is not cheap, but the bus ran beautifully.

Perhaps similar technology can be applied to the goose?

Andrew

 

[alastairq]

excellent idea.....are they costly?

what is the alternative?

flywheels?

extension leads?

(don't larf.....there WAS a prototype......darn mexico way I recall.....a mining operation usually worked off overhead with a trolley pole....but where the wires ended, the loco was plugged into a giant wander lead, to potter off into the sunset trailing a cord behind it......)

[strange how these little pole locos simply resembled a motor bogie (truck?) with a garden shed perched on top?]

 

[Triplex]

extension leads?

(don't larf.....there WAS a prototype......darn mexico way I recall.....a mining operation usually worked off overhead with a trolley pole....but where the wires ended, the loco was plugged into a giant wander lead, to potter off into the sunset trailing a cord behind it......)

I don't know about Mexico, but there was a setup like that at Kennecott Utah Copper.

 

[MasonJar]

Alastair,

I think the total to have the work done (as noted above) including the decoder and the USP unit was something like CAN$200.

But the Goose has the advantage of 1) more wheels, therefore the possibility of more pickups (without shoes), and 2) more room inside for weight to keep those pickups in contact.

Andrew

 

[Russ Bellinis]

I posted a reply in Trainnut's thread that I think worth repeating here. I'm presuming that the power truck is the front one on the bus. The box looks big enough to contain a switch engine drive. It would seem to me that you could power the trailer behind the car and have all 12 wheels driving and picking up power.