Intermountain Cab Forward ? Oil yes or no

[WBRRVP]

It's odd Peteski, I also spoke to Richard on the phone and exchanged emails and directed him to your post on the Atlas forums and provided him the wheel sizes as well. Why they didn't correct it I don't understand, I guess it was to much hassle to get the manufacture of the ACs the wheels IM already makes that would have worked.

Mike, I used the MT length axles, they roll very freely with that axle length so if you find the wheels don't when you change them you probably don't have them in the journal properly (the engine trailing axle can be tricky).

Jerry VanThomme
www.washingtonbeltrr.com

[Mike Madonna]

It's odd Peteski, I also spoke to Richard on the phone and exchanged emails and directed him to your post on the Atlas forums and provided him the wheel sizes as well. Why they didn't correct it I don't understand, I guess it was to much hassle to get the manufacture of the ACs the wheels IM already makes that would have worked.

Mike, I used the MT length axles, they roll very freely with that axle length so if you find the wheels don't when you change them you probably don't have them in the journal properly (the engine trailing axle can be tricky).

Jerry VanThomme
www.washingtonbeltrr.com

Jerry,

Thanks for the follow up. I presume you used the 33" wheels? I'm not sure what size wheels come from the factory. I plan to install sound soon, so this may be a good time to upgrade.

- Mike

[Cajonpassfan]

The flange issue is really disappointing, especially on such an otherwise beautiful loco. The first release of the Athearn 4-6-6-4 suffered the same problem with non-powered wheels, but to Athearn's credit, they fixed it on later runs AND made replacement wheelsets available. I find it hard to believe Intermountain is not aware of the problem...there are too many people using Atlas code 55 turnouts, if not track.
Otto K.

[peteski]

The flange issue is really disappointing, especially on such an otherwise beautiful loco. The first release of the Athearn 4-6-6-4 suffered the same problem with non-powered wheels, but to Athearn's credit, they fixed it on later runs AND made replacement wheelsets available. I find it hard to believe Intermountain is not aware of the problem...there are too many people using Atlas code 55 turnouts, if not track.
Otto K.

As you can see by posts in this thread, IM is fully aware of the problem since the 1st run (they have been told by at least 2 people) but they decided not to make any changes. 

[peteski]

Looks like Atlas forum is again back online!

For people interested in replacing the wheels with oversize flanges, look for my post (with photos) in http://forum.atlasrr.com/forum/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=58634&whichpage=6
I provide info about axle length and wheel diameters.

In case the Atlas forum shuts down,  here is the gist of my post:
Even if IM does not come through with replacement lower profile wheels, the Fox Valley wheels with 0.540" axles are perfect drop-in replacements. This is what they look like.
Tender truck (36") wheels
Trailing truck (33") wheels
Leading truck (28") wheels.

[DKS]

It is odd that they would design a model which uses 2 different flange sizes.

I don't find it odd, simply because I've seen it done occasionally by other manufacturers. Example: the Roundhouse "old time" 2-8-0. In this case it looks even stranger than normal given the blind drivers. I presume it's done to possibly improve tracking for floating, non-driven wheels, but time I don't have would be required to run thorough tests to see if this is true.

A friend of mine has the IM cab forward, and from what I've seen of his, I put it on my "don't bother" list.

[Chris333]

I don't like the looks of the flangeless center drivers of the MDC 2-8-0's, but that is how the real ones are.

[peteski]

A friend of mine has the IM cab forward, and from what I've seen of his, I put it on my "don't bother" list.

Well, the deep flanges on non-driven wheels bothers me. Especially on the 28" wheels of the leading truck.

[DKS]

Well, the deep flanges on non-driven wheels bothers me. Especially on the 28" wheels of the leading truck.

Ah, my post is poorly worded. By "don't bother" I meant "don't bother buying one." But not because of a few thousandths more flange on the smaller wheels; I just did not like the model on a number of technical fronts.

[Mike Madonna]

Looks like Atlas forum is again back online!

For people interested in replacing the wheels with oversize flanges, look for my post (with photos) in http://forum.atlasrr.com/forum/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=58634&whichpage=6
I provide info about axle length and wheel diameters.

In case the Atlas forum shuts down,  here is the gist of my post:
Even if IM does not come through with replacement lower profile wheels, the Fox Valley wheels with 0.540" axles are perfect drop-in replacements. This is what they look like.
Tender truck (36") wheels
Trailing truck (33") wheels
Leading truck (28") wheels.

Peteski,

Thanks for the info, much appreciated! I am adding sound to one of mine, good time to make this change.

- Mike

[Flagler]

The Gremlins returned,The engine will be returned also,I will follow with any thing I learn.I really like the sound aspect on my layout.
My other engines are dull & borring now without sound.What monster have I created, $$$$$$$$$$$,

               The AC12 was returned to the vendor,a very positive experience, In return I got the AC-11 with sound,IT runs fantastic ,no problems.I give it 10 out of 1o

[peteski]

I agree that I had nothing but positive experience whenever I have to deal with IM customer service.

[Flagler]

The AC-11 runs so much better on the rails of my layout and picks up current so much better then the the AC-12  it makes me wonder if they are made by the same mfg.Both are the most recent releases

[peteski]

The AC-11 runs so much better on the rails of my layout and picks up current so much better then the the AC-12  it makes me wonder if they are made by the same mfg.Both are the most recent releases

Do you also have the AC-12 so you could maybe compare their construction? 

Personally I doubt they are different as their mechanisms should be identical.  But I suppose they could have been made by a different manufacturer whose quality control and assembly processes are better than in the previous AC-12 releases.

[Flagler]

These are from the Batch that came out this Month.I sent the AC12 back.The front pilot truck does look diffrent