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Hartland comparison to Bachmann and LGB

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#21 ·
I have always liked the Big John, but its hard to do onboard batteries. A dedicated trailing battery car is needed, hard to hid batteries in a logging car! Neat engine, will darn near pull the house down. I am getting more like Dave, I run my live steam more than anything else. I am planning to do one more battery engine to better suit my new line, then concentrate on my steamer.
 
#22 ·
Mike, I'd imagine a 14.8v Li-Ion pack would fit easily in the bunker of Big John--probably one in a 2x2 array as opposed to the more typical flat pack. The boiler looks to be of good diameter, so the electronics would probably fit in there without too much struggle. Conversely, you may be able to fit the batteries in the boiler and the electronics in the bunker.

Helmut, it's Kevin Strong. Before e-mail, I'd sign notes with a stylized "K" that combined the "K" and the "S." When e-mail replaced written notes, I just kept the "K." (That, and people no longer had to suffer trying to read my handwriting.)

Later,

K
 
#23 ·
Battery tech keeps getting smaller and smaller. I see guys in O scale going dead rail now in small numbers. I bet we see onboard battery power in HO scale within the next 10 years if not much sooner. I am going to try to do onboard battery power(no RC) in a LGB Stainz soon. Thinking of building my own AA cell, Nimh pack. When figuring pack Mah, do I just add up the values of each battery cell? Mike
 
Discussion starter · #24 ·
Dave,
Thx. I have considered the Big John, but it is kinda pricey. Also it does *seem* smaller than the LGB Forney, perhaps smaller than the Hartland Forney as well (anyone know?). Size is a consideration for electronics and battery.

For any Stainz and the Porter I have, I will probably add a tender to carry some of the electronics or battery.

I might just hold off on another locomotive for now and start to work on the two I have (three f you count the Christmas set ten wheeler) to figure things out.

Kevin,
Kevin Strong somehow seems to match well with Agent K! :)
 
#26 · (Edited)
Helmut;

I have both the Big John and the La Porte Forney. Unfortunately both are stored in their boxes and a bit hard to retrieve at the moment. From looking at photos, I would say that the Forney is longer, mainly due to its cowcatcher. Dunkirk geared locomotives were probably the lightweights of the geared locomotive world. All the prototype photos I have seen show a locomotive that seems a bit smaller than the Climax.

Dunkirks also had an opposed piston steam engine array beneath the locomotive cab (it is viewable on the HLW model). I would suspect that the poor engine crew very likely had their wisdom teeth shaken loose by the engine assembly once the locomotive was running.

Regards,
David Meashey

P.S. Does the choice have to be steam? HLW also make a Mack switcher and a free lance electric switcher with a really snug wheelbase, but respectable pulling capacity. Also, you may be able to find one of the Bachmann Davenport "critters." (Davenport shown)

Image

 

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Discussion starter · #27 ·
Dave,
Yes, I am targeting 1890-1910 time period, or thereabouts. I would not mind any of: Shay, Climax, Heisler, Dunkirk, or Forney loco's (or maybe European) to add to the 0-4-0 and 2-4-2 that I have. But I would like whatever I do add to be the same, i.e. 2 ea. or more of the same loco. Makes business sense for the RR you know; parts, maintenance, training.
 
#28 · (Edited)
Understood. Even the Mack switcher is a 1920s vintage. A Dunkirk would work, but they are pricy. It's too bad Aristo is gone. Their 0-4-0 was pretty good once the bugs were worked out of it, and the street price was not bad either.

Bachmann is bringing back the former Aristo Eggliner, so watch Bachmann's new releases. Could happen. Or not. Only time will tell.

Best,
David Meashey
 
Discussion starter · #29 · (Edited)
Thx Dave! Yeah, pricey but so are the others. We will see. :)

How does the Aristo 0-4-0 scale out/look next to the Bachmann 0-4-0t Porter or the Bachmann 2-4-2t Lynn type? And the Forneys, et al.?

One can find the Aristo's used, but they are supposed to be 1:29 scale and I am not sure how they handle the tighter curve radius.
 
#30 · (Edited)
The 0-4-0s are based on the Pennsy A class switchers. These were fairly small locomotives for warehousing areas with tight industrial curves. Even though they are models of a standard gauge locomotive, they do not look imposing next to Bachmann, HLW, and LGB. They were offered with a coal bunker at the rear of the cab or with a full tender.

I used the Aristo coal bunker on my LGB Porter, and they looked like a match, at least to me. The "catalog" locomotive builders marketed a wide range of sizes. In the second photo, the Bachmann Davenport gas/mechanical is 1:20.3 scale, yet it is still dwarfed by a 1:29 USA beer can tank car.

Image


Image


I grew up with American Flyer S scale, so I got used to borrowing HO and O scale stuff to make things work.

Have fun,
David Meashey
 

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Discussion starter · #31 ·
Thx Dave - yeah you showed me that gas switcher/beer car pic before (somewhere! - or you just posted it and I took it as you posting it for me!). I guess if that is OK depends upon how much one pulls out the micrometer and measures wheels, brake handles, etc.!

I wonder if anyone has a Aristo 0-4-0 and an LGB or Bachmann 0-4-0 to compare - or experience doing such. Maybe somebody will chime in.
 
#32 ·
I just read through tis thread - very informative.

Two things struck me:

hlfritz said:
I have never heard of a Harz 2-6-2t - anyone got a pointer to that?
Click to expand...
Not sure where the Harz 2-6-2 fits into the discussion, but that loco exists both as a prototype and as several models.

Also - as to the thousands of Stainz locos out there - shipment of the Stainz actaully passed the one million mark a few years back.
I would image that is the largest number of a G-Scale loco ever built.

Knut
 
Discussion starter · #33 ·
Knut,
I assumed, now I know mistakenly, that Harz was a model brand/name. I just did a google and it is an actual loco. So it seems the real loco is a Harz 2-6-2t and there are models of it, one of which LGB makes. Is that correct now?

I am glad you sussed that out of the thread and replied!
 
#34 ·
Helmut

The Harz is actually a region in Germany.
There is a narrow gauge (Meter gauge) railroad abbreviated HSB that serves that region and is very active today.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harz_Narrow_Gauge_Railways
So models of the HSB are quite popular.
G-scale manufacturers that produce HSB models include LGB, TrainLine, Kiss and Nequida - maybe others as well

If you type HSB into the search field of the Large Scale database at www.gbdb.info you will get an overview of many of the HSB products that are/were available in G-Scale.

Knut
 
#36 ·
Mike Toney said:
Battery tech keeps getting smaller and smaller. I see guys in O scale going dead rail now in small numbers. I bet we see onboard battery power in HO scale within the next 10 years if not much sooner. I am going to try to do onboard battery power(no RC) in a LGB Stainz soon. Thinking of building my own AA cell, Nimh pack. When figuring pack Mah, do I just add up the values of each battery cell? Mike
Click to expand...
Battery in HO is today. Air Wire has a motion decoder, and a Converter that will fit in HO rolling stock. We are stocking these items.
 
#37 ·
Mike Toney said:
When figuring pack Mah, do I just add up the values of each battery cell? Mike
Click to expand...
I'm not a battery expert, but don't you need to match the voltage and discharge characteristics of the cells you combine in a pack?
I remember reading about that when commercial battery packs are manufactured.

To answer your question - for battery cells connected in parallel you add the capacities, if connected in series you add the voltages, the capacity stays the same.
You can of course combine parallel and series connections to increase the terminal voltage as well as the capacity.

Knut
 
#38 ·
With the charge and discharge rates we use, the "matching" of cells is not as important as in high discharge situations. It's been a bit over hyped.

It is better to use fewer cells in parallel if you can, since that's where imbalances can happen, in series, you force all cells to carry the same current.

If I had to do parallel in a pack, I'd rather parallel 2 strings of series connected, as opposed to paralleling units and then in series. I realize this goes somewhat against current thinking.

Buying all the same cell type from the same manufacturer at the same time is clearly the safest approach.

Greg 1,191
 
#39 ·
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Discussion starter · #40 ·
yeah - the gas switchers have always appealed to me even though I like steam. i could do a more modern steam based RR, but I would like to do the transition period where air brakes and knuckle couplers were becoming more and more the norm. not that I am stuck there yet.
 
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