Best engine for pulling power for 18" radius curves?


goscrewyourselves

goscrewyourselves

I'm the one
Hi Guys,

I was wondering what Engine (steam or diesel) has the best pulling power for 18" radius curves. Does that make sense?

I need to pull/push a CMX Cleaning Car that is all metal and apparently fairly heavy. The largest gradient is a 2% on my layout. I would rather have an engine that is over powered than one that would suffice.

All and any advice greatly appreciated.
 
My Stewart F units, with the solid metal weights that completely fill the body shell, they are so heavy they can pull the paint off the walls!:D
 
Darn it ... decisions decisions???? I kinda thought there might have been 2 or 3 that stood out, I guess not huh. Okay, well thanks for the input guys, so lets analyse this:

BLI AC6000 - well, I do care enough and only travel 1st Class so that's a plus :)

Stewart F Units - hmmm, the walls in my train room DO need painting, so a train that will strip them for me would be great!

Bowser C640M - I like pretty things in a manly way of course!

N&W Y6b - not only pulls the paint of the walls, but the whole darn yard as well. Don't think I have room in the house for the yard :(

Guess it now comes down to $$$$$. Thanks guys, at least I have something to look at and think about, oh and ALL of thse mentioned will run on 18" radius curves too, right?
 
If you want a big locomotive, try the Swedish State Railway, or SJ, DM3, it not only will pull the wallpaper, paint and sheetrock, but it'll alter the rotation of the earth....

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Tony:

My 2 cents: Buy two or three relatively short, somewhat weighty, inexpensive engines that go easily around 18" curves, and MU them behind your track cleaning car.

DougC
 
I agree, get two locos you'd otherwise enjoy using in normal train use and shove your cleaning car around with them. One big heavy locomotive that also has to be able to negotiate 18" curves is asking a lot for all but the all-metal and larger steamers, or brass, or a super-heavy diesel with six axles. Even a nice A/B set, say a Genesis F3A and B just announced on blowout at trainworld.
 
Doug and Selector,

That is a great idea. I didn't think (obviously) of doing that, in fact I already have 2 Genesis GP 38's. Would running them together do the job do you think?
 
Well, if you have the track cleaning car on-hand you can give all three a try.

If you don't have the track cleaning car you can use a substitute (like a gon), put some weight in it, lock (rubber band around them?) the two axles of one truck for drag, and give it brief shot.

And welcome to the "I didn't think of that" club (I'm President by the way.) :)
 
joking aside try one of the older model power / roco made E-9's. In the olden days I had one that pulled two dummys and 18 brass passenger cars up long 2% grades on my 1980's big layout. Second choice same era Model Power FA unit, same cast chassis. factory weight and the same huge can motor as the E units. Those are my 2 cents.
 
The best engines for everything (in my humble opinion) including 18" curves, would be a set of two kato N scale ES44AC in the dramatic and stunning Canadian National livery. Of course, when 18" curves seem tight....this may indicate you are using HO scale.......not N. Hmmmm.....? You might try the HO version of the Kato ES44AC in the rather awesome red, black, and white Canadian National livery. Then.....if they happen to not pull well around 18" curves......at least they will look stunning on a siding or something. I'm sort of biased toward the CN paint job at the moment. :confused::eek::cool:
 
wombat457 said:
I already have 2 Genesis GP 38's. Would running them together do the job do you think?
Click to expand...
I'm pretty certain that one would do the job. While I don't own a CMX car, the club did. I don't recall having to do anything special to pull it around. We did not have 18" curves but we did have 3% grades.
 
I have both 18" radius curves and a 3 % grade. IMHO, 4-axle diesels would negotiate the 18" radius curve and #4 turnouts far easier than any six-axle "motors". I run some fairly heavy (aluminum body) passenger car trains, and generally can make do with F7A/B combinations. If I have any problems, I'll add another powered unit. These are older Athearn blue box with significant weight. For steamers, I have a number of Mantua Mikado-based locomotives, including some kitbashed 2-10-2's and 2-10-4's. They are heavy, as would the old Bowser steam locos. If things are that hard, I can double-head them! And, yes, they will negotiate 18" radius curves...because I fixed them to do so! But I guess your best bet would be to m.u. shorter diesels.
 
I say go with your two GP38's, they should have plenty of power to push that CMX and negotiate the 18" curves. I used a single Genesis GP9 to push my CMX car last week, but it was on fairly level track with 30" curves...
 
Just my two cents here, Marklin (and Trix for 2-rail equivalent) are pretty heavy, have traction tires and manage well even R1 curves (which is a bit more than 14" in radius). They can get pricey though for an all metal US locomotive.
 
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