MTH SD70ACe BNSF 9370


Actually it was necessary for a few reasons.
1. The couple box is smaller than a kadee and never really coupled but would hold if you collided hard enough.
2. the shaft was pretty long and to me looked like crap.
3. If you tried to couple on rolling stock in a 22 inch curve the long couple shaft would miss to one side. Once you continued and pushed to a straight section of track the coupler that missed would straighten out and derail even a heavy piece of rolling stock.
4. Once you leave DCS there is no reason to keep the auto couple since it would require a 6 function decoder for something that didn't work reliably anyway.

Even MTH recognized this which is why they included a standard coupler and provided a mounting hole. (Smart Move)
 
hamltnblue said:
Today I picked one up at an LHS in Delaware. I guess I can't knock them until I try one. I'll start another thread in the next few days and compare it to the closest 3 engines I have, 1.Athearn Genesis SD60i W/Sound, upgraded to the new soundtraxx drop in board. 2. BLI Blueline AC with DCC decoder.
3. BLI paragon AC6000. Lately My favorite engines have been the Atlas Gold Series, of which I have 6. They are all 4 axle loco's so I don't feel they are close enough to compare.
Right off the bat though the 4th post of this thread appears to be incorrect. The railings definitely feel like plastic, not metal. They do look good though.
Click to expand...
I will be interested to hear of this comparison, particularly with the BLI AC6000. I acquired two AC6000 and two Tower 55 locos about the same time. The sound from the BLI was far better than the Tower 55 locos.

I sold the Tower 55 off and kept the BLI's so I can't weight them side by side, but if I remember correctly the BLI outweighed the Tower unit. Maybe this bigger mass helps with the sound. And if the MTH's are heavier still, maybe helps with the sound??

I wonder if any of these 'stock' locos are using the newer hi-bass speakers? And I further wonder if they wire these double speakers in series or parallel.??
 
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BNTorsney said:
Nothing is perfect. The second SD70ACe, BNSF #9371, kept derailing at a left number 4 turnout. My walk-around DCC controller wire wasn't long enough to give me a close look at what the problem might be.
Today I purchased a much longer Ethernet cable, it allowed me close inspection of the derailment area. The first axle of the front truck passed the turn-out frog normally, it was the second and third axles that appeared to ride up on the frog's edge, causing the derailments.
Click to expand...
Have you read of the numerous problems that the Genesis SD70's experienced with derailing??...there were many.

It reminded me of a situation I had with some of my first 3 axle truck locos. It was a Bachmann Spectrum loco that touted its prototypical small flange wheels. Those small flanges combined with a rigid truck of 3 axles meant the 'slightest' undulations in the track would cause the truck to pivot on 2 of the 3 axles and cause the 3rd axle to prepare to derail at the slightest suggestion. I finally said that if I wanted to find any track problems on my railroad, just run this engine around it..it will find the problems.

I'm guessing this 3 axle truck is going to need a 'loosing of the tolerances' in the central axle to relieve this extra sensitivity??
 
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lmackattack said:
Im a steam/diesel transition guy and pay little attention to anything after 1965. ....I do love MTH for their puffing smoke for steam engines. yes its toy like and adds a film but the first time I saw one draging 50 cars at 10 mph with the 4 puffs per wheel rev I thought that was the coolest thing ever.
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Agreed there :D I have a friend with a Lionel & MTH shop. In that bigger scale....and they are impressive.
 
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beiland said:
Agreed there :D I have a friend with a Lionel & MTH shop in that bigger scale....and they are impressive.
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the only think i dislike with O scale is that a majority of the diesel have the front catwalk part of the truck, so its pivot when the loco take a curve
 
Locomotive Power Shortage

......................find any track problems on my railroad, just run this engine around it..it will find the problems. I'm guessing this 3 axle truck is going to need a 'loosing of the tolerances' in the central axle to relieve this extra sensitivity.
[/QUOTE]
When I was younger I use to hate derailments. Now that I'm older they don't bother me as much because it gives me something to do. These minor derailments over the years allowed me to "tighten-up" my track work. Today, the only derailments I suffer are caused when I forget to throw a turnout switch. With the new DCC turnouts available today, it's just a matter of time before even these mistakes disappear.
If you view the one photo attached to this post, on the outer yard track I'm missing a locomotive; thanks to two members of this website, I now have one less DCC locomotive to sell. Thanks to this sale I just ordered my THIRD MTH SD70ACe locomotive, 80-2004-1 EMD Demonstrator.
When visitors ask, I will tell them the Railroad was so impressed by the abilities of the SD70 demonstrator, our purchasing department went out and purchased two more.
Any of you following this thread, will know in real life it was the modeler that was so impressed with this HO locomotive he went out and purchased two more!!
 
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Check other Thread

julienjj said:
do you have more picture of your layout ? im interested in the way you made your elevation
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I have many photos of the improvement and additions I made to this layout. If you check out my other Thread on this website, "Atlas Big Book Layouts, HO 35, Berkshire Valley Route," you will find a lot of photos. If after viewing that thread you don't see what you want, let me know exactly what you want to see and I will take and post photos.
 
beiland said:
I will be interested to hear of this comparison, particularly with the BLI AC6000. I acquired two AC6000 and two Tower 55 locos about the same time. The sound from the BLI was far better than the Tower 55 locos.

I sold the Tower 55 off and kept the BLI's so I can't weight them side by side, but if I remember correctly the BLI outweighed the Tower unit. Maybe this bigger mass helps with the sound. And if the MTH's are heavier still, maybe helps with the sound??

I wonder if any of these 'stock' locos are using the newer hi-bass speakers? And I further wonder if they wire these double speakers in series or parallel.??
Click to expand...

I'll put it on my list to do a side by side video of the AC6000 and SD70Ace. The BLI's are nice and loud if you want them to be. The horn is very pronounced. I'd rate the SD70Ace with it after the Tsunami conversion (The DCS version of the horn is it's only weak spot).
 
beiland said:
Have you read of the numerous problems that the Genesis SD70's experienced with derailing??...there were many.

It reminded me of a situation I had with some of my first 3 axle truck locos. It was a Bachmann Spectrum loco that touted its prototypical small flange wheels. Those small flanges combined with a rigid truck of 3 axles meant the 'slightest' undulations in the track would cause the truck to pivot on 2 0f the 3 axles and cause the 3 axle to prepare to derail at the slightest suggestion. I finally said that if I wanted to find any track problems on my railroad, just run this engine around it..it will find the problems.

I'm guessing this 3 axle truck is going to need a 'loosing of the tolerances' in the central axle to relieve this extra sensitivity.
Click to expand...
My SD60 had problems too, riding off on any imperfection in the track. You basically have to work the trucks to make them move a little more freely. Mine handles the layout fine now but I'll still do some more massaging of it over time.
 
beiland said:
Have you read of the numerous problems that the Genesis SD70's experienced with derailing??...there were many.
Click to expand...

This was one particular subject thread I ran across with a number of discussuions of the potential problem. It concerned me as I have 4 of these locos which I've never had time to run yet...and this thread did not reach a definitive fix either from Athearn or the members contributing?
http://cs.trains.com/trccs/forums/p/166602/1831640.aspx

Can this be the reason these locos show up at firesale prices?
 
My SD60 had a similar issue. I just spent some time rocking the trucks rotating them like you would when calibrating a PC joystick. Seemed to fix it. The trucks were just a bit too stiff and wouldn't flex with the track.
 
julienjj said:
the only think i dislike with O scale is that a majority of the diesel have the front catwalk part of the truck, so its pivot when the loco take a curve
Click to expand...

Theres O scale, then theres O Scale. 3-Rail O scale is toylike and is made to be compatible with the Lionel trains your grandfather played with.

Modern 2-rail O scale is true to scale and does not have swinging pilots.

hamltnblue said:
I'll put it on my list to do a side by side video of the AC6000 and SD70Ace. The BLI's are nice and loud if you want them to be. The horn is very pronounced. I'd rate the SD70Ace with it after the Tsunami conversion (The DCS version of the horn is it's only weak spot).
Click to expand...

http://www.ulrichmodels.com/Sound_Samples/SoundSamples.htm

:D
 
My MTH SD7oACe is great too. Pulls very well. I do have a question about a problem someone here may be able to answer. Has anyone else noticed a load clicking sound like a slipping gear coming from it at low speed only? I may have to strip it down further to investigate. I took the covers off and the gears look goos and won't slip when locking the wheels and turning the flywheels. I wonder if it could be the flywheels hitting something? Any ideas?
 
Few things
1. The literature that comes with the loco suggests oiling the wheels and has pics of where to do so.
2. Run the loco with sound off to make sure it's mechanical and not coming from the speakers.
3. Make sure you give it time to break in, runnign at least an hour.
 
According to the current press release. They are now going to be DCC ready and will have a decoder plug installed now. Hopefully that means you get full advantage of everything this locomotive is capable of with the DCS.
 
I haven't heard the details but it might mean there will be no audio in them. If they're smart they'll still provide the speaker mounts for those who want to install it.
 
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