This was sitting in my friend's engine track!
- Thread starter Squidbait
- Start date
Nice. I read the review in Model Railroader Mag. They commented that you need near perfect track work in order for it to run smoothly. Can you comment on that? Any problems so far?
wow sweet!!! im not into passenger and passenger trains, but i have to say, thats one cool looking train!! i like the yellow, it really stands out :thumb: :mrgreen: 
Well, I don't know how "perfect" his track is, but it's Atlas code 83 laid on Woodland Scenics foam roadbed over foam. It's held in place with push pins every 4-6". It ran at full throttle through #6 turnouts, 24" radius curves (with easements) and a 30' crossing.
Jerry believes in "natural" looking track, so his straights aren't perfectly tangent, his grades aren't uniform ramps, there are gentle dips and rises, and this unit handles them all with aplomb.
Now OTOH, if you've slapped down some snap-track on the living room floor, over obstacles and stuff, then yes, you might have some problems. As you can see from the picture, the units are pretty low-slung, so there's not much room for bumping around.
I didn't see the break-in, but he did the recommended. He says after about 3 minutes it was smooth and quiet, and has been ever since. About the only thing I can say "bad" about it is that at full throttle the wheel and drivetrain noise overcome the sound system, but he hasn't really secured his track and roadbed, so the noise will probably abate once he gets everything secured down and sceniced.
I can never find an excuse to buy this model. I want to get in in the Penn Central scheme, because i'm pretty sure that was how it was painted when it broke the speed recodr in the US at 170 MPH, right in the middle of the portion of the Northeast corridor i model (yay New Jersey). The only problem is that i don't think the turbo train ever ran down this way other than that one time, and i also model post Penn Central.
maybe one day!
maybe one day!
I saw the Turbo being shown off at a promotional event at Rhinecliff, NY station along the Hudson River when I was a kid. If memory serves you could walk through it that day for free. Wish I'd had a camera!
Ralph
Ralph
Actually, it depends. In the US, not so much, but in Canada, for CN it ran in Toronto-Montreal service from 1972-1978. When Canadian passenger rail operations were rolled into VIA rail, it continued in service for VIA until Oct. 1982, when they were replaced by the conventionally-powered LRC's. According to CN and VIA's records, they had an operational availability of 97%.
There is much speculation over why the Turbos were discontiuned. Some suggest Bombardier pressured VIA to implement their LRC's before they were ready (and still late to deliver).
Jason Shron's book that accompanies the model is an interesting read, with lots of great photos. I've just given it a quick skim, and haven't had a chance to really sit down and give it a read.
There is much speculation over why the Turbos were discontiuned. Some suggest Bombardier pressured VIA to implement their LRC's before they were ready (and still late to deliver).
Jason Shron's book that accompanies the model is an interesting read, with lots of great photos. I've just given it a quick skim, and haven't had a chance to really sit down and give it a read.
I think in the US, it wasn't so successful because it was essentially a jet-powered train.... running under catenary.
The only tracks in the US at the time capable of really handling a highspeed train (if i remember correctly) was the Northeast Corridor.
when you consider that a jet train is loud (and flying through urban areas) and a gas guzzler (under catenary), it doesn't really make sense to keep it. I think in the US it got discontinued in 1976, before conrail. I think it ran north of New York on the NEC. I also remember hearing there were reliablility problems that pretty much doomed it.
Its a nice train, my hobby shop has the Late Amtrak paint scheme for it, but i don't think i could spend that much money on it!
The only tracks in the US at the time capable of really handling a highspeed train (if i remember correctly) was the Northeast Corridor.
when you consider that a jet train is loud (and flying through urban areas) and a gas guzzler (under catenary), it doesn't really make sense to keep it. I think in the US it got discontinued in 1976, before conrail. I think it ran north of New York on the NEC. I also remember hearing there were reliablility problems that pretty much doomed it.
Its a nice train, my hobby shop has the Late Amtrak paint scheme for it, but i don't think i could spend that much money on it!
According to the book, and interviews with several CN and VIA maintenance employee's, there were reliability issues discovered dealing with the cold weather (brake lines freezing!). But these were resolved within the first year of service. However, even back then, the media was happier to pick nits and find faults than to trumpet successes, and so the persistent rumours of unreliability remained.
On it's test run on the Kingston Sub, the CN Turbo hit a meat truck at a level crossing. It destroyed the truck, but only crushed the fibreglass nose of the turbo, with no derailments and no injuries to anyone on board.
Also, as I mentioned, the Turbo had a 97-98% availability rating. Hardly unreliable. Much more dependable than the LRC units it replaced.
Quite remarkable for a train that had a very short development period, compared to the 10 year development of the LRC, which entered service and were plagued with problems to the end.
The LRC cars are still in use but the locos are all gone. The trains are being used between Montreal and Windsor with either a GE pulling them or a GMDD F40.
The LRC cars had a tilt system to allow them to track curves at high speeds, and keep the passengers comfortable. They could never get it to work, and so was locked very early on in their career.
They're not bad cars, but they've got a long way to go to match the longevity of the stainless equipment still being used.... 50 years plus and still going strong.
They're not bad cars, but they've got a long way to go to match the longevity of the stainless equipment still being used.... 50 years plus and still going strong.
I was recently reading on either GM (EMD)or GE, that they were introducing locos with the center pivot idea. They claimed there new design would allow passenger and freights to run an average speed of 100 mph+ Pretty cool looking, too.
I've read that the nose opens up, with the doors kind of sliding back along the sides, and units could be coupled nose-to-nose for long trains and that would allow a walk-through configuration ... but I've never seen a pic of one with the nose open or in such a configuration.