ConCor GS4 Suthern Pacific Daylight


A

arealgijoe

Member
Well, the title loco is my latest, till my Pensy Hudson arrives. Great looking loco, but sad it is a China made Con-Cor and QC is lacking in China made Con-Cor's. They cut a few corners that I am trying to overcome.

It was DCC ready, complete with a NMRA connector in the tender. BUT....... That is ONLY for the motor control and the lights are not only hard-wired but bulbs instead of LEDs. I also found exposed wires, one I have fixed but there must be another as it tends to short on curves? Parts fall off easily, great for handling?

I installed a DCC with sound decoder and rewired the reverse (tender) light. I also had to run 3 (very thin) wires to the loco for the headlight and mars light. Took a bit if frustration to get the Digitrax decoder function re-mapped for the MARS light.

Like I said, a great looking monster, well not nearly as big as a Challenger, cab forward or Big Boy. I had hoped it was a Kato made used loco but it was not. It does run smooth and quiet on straight track. Another issue is top heavy and hard to get ALL the wheels on the track properly at one time. (my Bachmann northerns 4-8-4 are easier).

JD
 
I just bought one a couple of weeks ago. I was really waiting to find a Kato, but I got a killer deal, so I couldn't pass it up. I am satisfied with it. The right side traction tire kept coming off when it was going in reverse, but a little CA took care of it. I trimmed the sideframes off of the front truck, it looks a lot better now. I am thinking about buying a Kato detail set to add the pumps. I'm with you an getting it on the track. It's a little more difficult than my J3A, but not as difficult to get on the track as my Spectrum 4-8-2.

How do you like your Bachmann Northern's? I had the SF version when I was a kid and I am thinking about getting another, albeit the lastest version.
 
I have several OLDER Bachmann Northern's and they were pretty good. After years the drivers fail to stay properly quartered on a couple. I am working on a fix for that. My latest Bachmann steamer is a
2-8-4 #1225 Piere Marquette, DCC w/sound and it runs great.

JD
 
At long last I found the intermittent short, actually two of them. One a bit of metal, the other was a wire zigzag shape spring like connector that went between the tender and loco. The wire connector (spring?) became out of place when a plastic part came off (among other not so well secured parts). I did not notice it before and had taped over the spot where the plastic part was (between tender and loco) to repair it. Looks great, still and runs fairly well now. I have the mars light working (bright white LED) and headlight is a warm white, looks very neat. The mars light only works when the loco is in forward and headlight is on.

JD
 
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