I purchased a mantua 2-6-6-2 for use at the club (Bill and Tom's excellent adventure). I put a MDC sound decoder in it, and took it to the club. It barely ran, and studying it carefully showed that it had a good mechanism (motor , gears and drive wheels) but had serious issues with electrical pick up, and suspension.
The Chinese ( I assume ) who assemble this thing attach wires to painted sections of the frame , so the black and red wire from the decoder plug in the tender do not have good contact with the frame of the front and rear portions of the articulated frame. also the tender trucks have pick ups on only one axle each, so that the tender has pick up on only two of eight wheels, which is stupidly inadequate.
Also the springs on the leading and trailing trucks are too stiff, which tends to lift the first two drive axles off the rail, and the last two, as well, so that good electrical contact exists on only two drivers, and that contact has to go through a painted contact at the frame.
So the electrical pick up on this locomotive, new out of the box is practically useless. I have taken mine apart, and will attempt to build a good electrical pick up system.
I am also not satisfied with the weight of this locomotive, it has a zamac boiler weight, which I have not been able to dislodge from the boiler yet, but I would like to remove it, and replace it with led, or tungsen (heavier than lead, and cheaper than gold or platinum, the only things that are heavier than tungsten or lead).
I will post some photos later, this locomotive has promise, it just ***** as delivered.
Bill Nelson
The Chinese ( I assume ) who assemble this thing attach wires to painted sections of the frame , so the black and red wire from the decoder plug in the tender do not have good contact with the frame of the front and rear portions of the articulated frame. also the tender trucks have pick ups on only one axle each, so that the tender has pick up on only two of eight wheels, which is stupidly inadequate.
Also the springs on the leading and trailing trucks are too stiff, which tends to lift the first two drive axles off the rail, and the last two, as well, so that good electrical contact exists on only two drivers, and that contact has to go through a painted contact at the frame.
So the electrical pick up on this locomotive, new out of the box is practically useless. I have taken mine apart, and will attempt to build a good electrical pick up system.
I am also not satisfied with the weight of this locomotive, it has a zamac boiler weight, which I have not been able to dislodge from the boiler yet, but I would like to remove it, and replace it with led, or tungsen (heavier than lead, and cheaper than gold or platinum, the only things that are heavier than tungsten or lead).
I will post some photos later, this locomotive has promise, it just ***** as delivered.
Bill Nelson