The Canadian

[OldEastRR]

It's Rapido, not Scale Trains.

[CNR5529]

In all fairness, and not taking anything away, Montreal or Toronto aren’t exactly on the east coast, either. To put it in perspective, Chicago to LA is “only” 2,227 miles via ATSF, but the Super did it in under 40 hours, as early as 1938. Adding the NYC leg to New York, is another 960 miles or so, about 16 hrs by the 20th Century Ltd. Of course, the through Pullman sleepers had to be handled by a switcher between stations in Chicago, adding lots of time to the overall schedule...

Point taken, and yeah, not the fastest train by a long shot. That said, CPR did run an eastern train, the Atlantic Ltd. from Montreal to the east coast port city of St John N.B. So it was possible to run coast to coast via one single railroad. Actually it was possible to do it on two different railroads... The CNR had not one but three eastern transcon trains from Halifax N.S., the Ocean Ltd, the Scotian and the Maritime express, to complement the Continental and Super Continental running west to Vancouver, which all connected in Montreal as well. Taking it one step further though, it was possible to travel from mainland Europe or the UK, across North America, and then all the way to Japan and other destinations all aboard CPR ships, trains and planes... take that ATSF 

Joking aside, anytime these fine prototypical models come out, we all win. 

[CNR5529]

Yeah, I need to look closer but it seems like some flanges are rubbing on the underframe.  Definitely not smooth rollers, and some are sleds. 

Sorry to hear your cars aren't running well. I set up a torture test oval of track last night with 14" radius curves to see how well my train actually performs. I had a full 16 car consist on the track (13 Rapido cars and three extra U series heavyweights), and brought out my A-B-A set of IM f units to haul it all. A single IM locomotive could get the cars moving, but slipped. Two units had no problems getting the train to glide along at any speed. With all three, the train had more than enough power to chase its own tail on the loop. Granted this was with no grades, but the very tight curves were not enough to cause issues.

I did notice though that some axles have wide gauge, and some axle muffs appear to be rubbing on the underframe of the cars. A bit of clearance filing will solve that I think. The wide gauge could be the cause of your sleds, if the wheels can't spin freely...

[bbussey]

My D&H Skyline dome is a sled also, but I haven't investigated the cause yet.

[EL3632]

My D&H Skyline dome is a sled also, but I haven't investigated the cause yet.

Same here. From what little I could investigate, it seems the axles are rubbing against the underbody.

[Cajonpassfan]

It's Rapido, not Scale Trains.

Do’h, I had the new turbine on my brain

[Cajonpassfan]

...

Joking aside, anytime these fine prototypical models come out, we all win. 

Hallelujah, brother! True that!
Otto K.

[simsuper80]

Same here. From what little I could investigate, it seems the axles are rubbing against the underbody.

I have been able to fix some of the cars by filing away at the underbody where the axle makes contact, and tiny parts of the underbody where the flange makes contact. There is also a plastic bit that sticks out slightly from the metal contact that the trucks sit in. Its very hard to explain that without a picture. (I might post one at the end of the day)

[bbussey]

I have been able to fix some of the cars by filing away at the underbody where the axle makes contact, and tiny parts of the underbody where the flange makes contact. There is also a plastic bit that sticks out slightly from the metal contact that the trucks sit in. Its very hard to explain that without a picture. (I might post one at the end of the day)

You've explained it just fine.  Thanks for the tips.   

[simsuper80]

You've explained it just fine.  Thanks for the tips.   

Alright. Hopefully it works for you and others as well

[CNR5529]

So with all the reports of sleds out there, but with my set exhibiting no such issues, I decided to put @craigolio1's action red 10 car set on the same tight curve loop I was able to run my 16 car train on yesterday with no issues. Sadly, his set is also a poor runner. Half the cars roll freely, the remaining cars roll somewhat poorly and will need adjusting/filing of the underframe for clearance, as mentioned higher up. But one truck on one coach was particularly bad. Even with the truck completely removed from the car so it wasn't rubbing the underframe, it still wouldn't roll at all. After a bit of investigating, I spotted the issue:

[ Guests cannot view attachments ]

These two corners show the pickups pinching the wheels and axles. Taking it all apart, it was clear that the pickups were bent inwards. After straightening the pickups and reassembling the truck, the car is now completely free rolling. Not only that, but where three locomotives were struggling to haul the 10 cars before, 2 units were quite capable now.

Hopefully this helps others diagnose some of the performance issues with their consists.

[Angus Shops]

Woohoo! I got mine today! Sure are purty.

I’ve always been perfectly happy with the slower pace of The Canadian; the more time spent on the train, the happier I was/am. In fact, the later the train was/is, the happier I was/am. The record so far (Via Rail) was 25 hrs late arriving in Toronto. Somehow the crew kept the standards high with three fabulous extra meals. Actually, know a little bit about how they did it; the crew radioed ahead before the stop in Hornepayne Ont. and had a the local food store deliver a few dozen eggs.

CP’s route is no speedway. It’s took most of 24 hrs to get from Vancouver to Calgary on CP’s twisting, hilly route through BC. The Prairies were faster, but not like the UP. Then the long winding route through Northern Ontario.

The Atlantic Limited was equipped with the same order of Budd gear as the Canadian (with a few refurbished older cars I think), so you could ride a Park car from Halifax to Vancouver if you didn’t mind changing in Montreal.
Geoff

[TrainboySD40]

This set certainly is a far cry from my failed attempts to patch together a Kootenay/Kettle Valley express with Geoff's kits. I feel like I'm home. Some kinks to work out, but I'm no stranger to modeling adversity.
...I've only broken one grab iron. (Sorry, Baggage-dorm)

The marker light is really the only thing that looks off to me. None of the cars are particularly free rolling (they'll sit on a grade better than most of my freight stock) but a couple are pickier with the trackwork than most anything else. More investigation required. They look fantastic in photos.

[Angus Shops]

After drooling over my newly unboxed Canadian, I decided to take if for a test run on the layout. Definitely encountered some rolling quality issues, accompanied by some distinct rubbing sounds. I did a little investigation and found one possible cause to be the outside axle on the each truck rubbing on the center frame. The center frame between the truck mount and the coupler is noticeably deeper than on the ‘inboard’ side of the truck mount. I took the trucks off one car and they seemed to be very free rolling, even rolling on their own on my 2% grade. I filed the offending area of the frame (easy enough, not much chance of messing anything else up) and reassembled the car. Much improved; significantly more free rolling and no rubbing sounds. I know a test sample of one isn’t necessarily proof of a solution, but it’s logical, encouraging, and simple.   

[peteski]

One would think that with the design being done in CAD, there should not be any clearance or interference issues between various parts of the car (like axle and the center frame).  I wonder if the problem is that the CAD drawing is made in a way that the axle point is riding in the center of the bearing cup, when in real life the axle has some play in it, so it rides a bit higher in the axle cup? Just a theory.