Kato Heavy Mikado. Your thoughts please.

[ChristianJDavis1]

NYC equipped some of their H-10s with steam  lines and signalling devices.   This allowed them to be used in both freight and passenger work.  Usually the railroad would assign freight power so equipped to freight work, but, if there were no passenger types available, it could assign one of these to cover the schedule.

P&LE equipped two or three of their H-9s (the USRA heavy 2-8-2, which is the locomotive about which the Original Poster was asking) in a similar fashion.  P&LE supposedly did this to allow the H-9s to pull crew shuttles, but, I suspect that more than one H-9 pulled more than one passenger local, when a ten-wheeler, Pacific or Hudson was not available.

It was not uncommon for railroads to equip freight power with passenger equipment so that it could be pressed into passenger service, when necessary.  Some roads did this more than others.  SP had more than a few locomotives larger than 2-8-2s so equipped.  In fact, SP often used passenger equipped 2-8-2s and 2-10-2s in the mountains in Oregon.

UP had a class of so-called "mountain Mikados", which were, essentially, USRA light 2-8-2 copies, that it purchased specifically to haul local passenger trains in Idaho and Oregon.

Thank you for that explanation. Not a NYC modeler, but the price was right so I picked it up. Good to know I can have some varied use with it.

[Bobster]

Christian,

"The price was right so I picked it up," sounds real familiar.  I also have very little New York Central myself.  I certainly am impressed with the knowledge out there.  Now I hope I don't disappoint the P&LE fans out there but I'm looking for a line a little further West.  My door layout won't be having mountains.  I don't know if the Rock Island or Santa Fe operated  Mikados or anything similar.  I have not checked the CB&Q yet either.   I'm somewhat surprised by all the sub variants.   I also have several airbrushes and am not afraid to repaint if I have to.  I've modeled ships, subs, and armor.

Where I'm at with the steamer:
I have decided the light at home isn't what I hoped to for when I'm cleaning the wheels.  I seem to have a little trouble telling the wheel black from the dirt.  I have been cleaning the wheels at work on break with alcohol and q-tips and lens cloths.  My wife also is after me for spring cleaning / painting / yard work.  Then we do have a 2 week old grand-daughter who we went to see last night.  I have looked in more than I've responded so please keep the advice coming.  Particularly about who else operated these Mikado's    I hope to clean the test track this weekend and give the locomotive a run.

Thank you,
Bobster

[loyalton]

2-8-2s in general or just the heavy Mikado that Kato modeled? A lot of RRs had 2-8-2s, assuming bridges and track could take the weight. Below is a list (looks accurate, believe or not) for the USRA heavy Mikes. The clone list includes engines that have heavier boilers than lights but were not necessarily exact clones. Plus feedwater heaters got added later, headlight positions moved, etc.:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USRA_Heavy_Mikado
I'd forgotten PMcK&Y had them also. PRR was assigned some but refused them. If I remember right, there is a photo of one ID'd as a CNW engine with a big CNW logo on the tender, but the engine is numbered and lettered for the Omaha Road subsidiary.

The key spotting feature for the USRA heavy Mike is that sand dome (the one in front) oval-shaped and low to the body, looking like it's draped over the engine. That shows how close it was to standard clearances of the time. Side-by-side with a USRA light Mike, you can see the differences including the size of boilers.

[Bobster]

@mmagliaro,

Two 13 gram weights?  That's almost a whole ounce in just the tender.  I think I have a 14 gram piece of a steel alloy that will fit.  At what point will all the weight put extra wear on the gears?  I'm starting the cleanup and weight additions with the tender, which has pickups also.  The draw bar and trailing wheels have been successfully removed and not bent.  Of course I dropped the screw when I removed the front truck from the draw bar.  It rolled off the table onto the carpet but I beat the carpet monster and found it very quickly.  The front truck also came off the draw bar when I removed it from the tender for cleaning.  I got it put back. I didn't see the bit about running the wires to the lower inside of the truck initially.  The lower tender feels like a different material, kind of like Delrin,  than the upper part, which feels like styrene.

I am doing the cleaning at home after all as I kept getting too many, "what are you doings?" when I tried to work on it in my inspection lab. I haven't got the cab or boiler off yet.  Does the cab come off straight up or straight back.  I don't want to force it.  I'm prying apart gently at the bottom of the cab but it seems kind of tight.  The wheels look pretty dirty but the rest of the loco and tender look brand new.

Thank you for following along,
Bobster

[loyalton]

It comes apart in a specific order. After detaching the tender, slide the cab slightly up and mostly straight back after spreading the bottoms of the cab sides. You'll then see the nubs that secure the cab. New, there are no handrails stuck in the cab so you can pull the cab apart carefully and lift upwards and back. Otherwise it's best to remove the handrails before removing the cab.

http://www.tcsdcc.com/Customer_Content/Installation_Pictures/N_Scale/Kato/USRA_Heavy_Mikado_Locototive/Mikado.html
No need to pull out the handrail stanchions as shown. The smokebox end of the rail can be lifted out of its hole and the handrail slid out.

When you install, the stanchion pins go horizontal to the ground, not toward the center of the boiler. Since the stanchions are Delrin, if the fit is snug enough you might ignore any glue. Otherwise a tiny bit of glue like CA will be good to secure them. There are a couple spare stanchions in case you launch a couple; if you run out give a shout and I'll send a couple more.

To release/install the wire supports for the front deck, you bend the deck down as far as you feel is safe aaaaand then a little more to get the wire loose without bending it. I leave these alone after installation; there's no need to take this apart after initial assembly for any reason I can think of.

Note that it's way easier to paint (smokebox, weathering) and detail when it's all apart.

Reassembly was confusing when I got to orienting that oddball cab part until I realized the seats were seats. Be careful reattaching the drawbar and don't bend it, and don't forget to insert the clip/tab into the trailing truck.

[Bobster]

Loyalton,

Thank you for the link.  It really helps me make sense out of what everyone has been saying.  It clarifies what I didn't understand from the other decoder installation.  I may not remove the cab and boiler after all.  I thought there were gaps under the existing weight where I could sneak more weight  in.   For the whole engine being so clean and the railings and fittings still on the tree it still puzzles me a little how the wheels got so dirty.  putting in the railings horizontal to the ground is something I might have overlooked.

Thank you for your assistance,
Bobster

[mmagliaro]

@mmagliaro,

Two 13 gram weights?  That's almost a whole ounce in just the tender.  I think I have a 14 gram piece of a steel alloy that will fit.  At what point will all the weight put extra wear on the gears?

...

I wouldn't worry about that.  This is N Scale.  You can't possibly add enough weight in there to stress the motor or the gears.
Two weights sounds like a lot, and yes, if you put one 14g weight in there and it runs great, just leave it.

Remember, one Microtrains 40' boxcar weighs about 24g.  So putting 26g in the tender is like adding just one boxcar to your train.

[Mike C]

 I've never added any weight to my tender and it still runs flawlessly .  I did change it to a Bachmann tender though because I felt the detail was better . Don't think there's much difference in the weights between the two .

[mmagliaro]

I've never added any weight to my tender and it still runs flawlessly .  I did change it to a Bachmann tender though because I felt the detail was better . Don't think there's much difference in the weights between the two .

I certainly believe you.
Here's the thing... some of these tenders work perfectly as-is.  Some of the 1st-run Mikados, even with dead drivers, run
great just on the tender pickups. 
Others do not.  These suggested tweaks are for "If you have trouble" because weight in the tender and
driver pickup are two well-known and well-established bugaboos that sometimes make these engines run poorly.

If you find obvious things, like dirty wheels, or dirty axle cups, or the two bronze strips in the tender floor not making contact with the metal thumbs that come up through the floor from the trucks, then absolutely address those things first.
Once you've done all that, if the tender pickup is still spotty, add some weight.
And all I'm saying is that if you add 13g and it runs, and you add more and it runs better, don't be worried about dragging that extra weight around.  It doesn't amount to as much as you think.  Better to have a bullet-proof tender pickup.

[Cajonpassfan]

And all I'm saying is that if you add 13g and it runs, and you add more and it runs better, don't be worried about dragging that extra weight around.  It doesn't amount to as much as you think.  Better to have a bullet-proof tender pickup.

+1!
Otto K.

[loyalton]

Adding the weight to the tender helps in backing moves. You will notice that when you have a string of relatively weighty cars (say, recent Atlas PS-1s and reefers with metal floors) with even one very light car in there (say, an empty plastic flat or I/M composite gon), the light car(s) can easily cause stringlining/derailments when being pushed. A very light tender acts just like an empty freight car.

[mmagliaro]

Adding the weight to the tender helps in backing moves. You will notice that when you have a string of relatively weighty cars (say, recent Atlas PS-1s and reefers with metal floors) with even one very light car in there (say, an empty plastic flat or I/M composite gon), the light car(s) can easily cause stringlining/derailments when being pushed. A very light tender acts just like an empty freight car.

That is a great point!  I never thought of this!   I put weight in all my freight cars so that they all weigh the same.
(I don't try for the NMRA spec.  Rather, since most MT cars are 24g, I adopted that as my standard and I just add weight
to get every car up to 24g).  But having the tender not be 24g is just like the "light car in the bunch", just as you say,
and on a backing move, it's in the worst possible place... at the head of a long string of cars that are all heavier.

[Bobster]

Thank you all very much for your support,

I hope to finish cleaning the wheels tonight and cut a few weights tomorrow.  Then test and if needed order driver number four.  I have attached a picture, hopefully, [ Guests cannot view attachments ]
of P&E 47 which is what I thought the Kato Mikado was.  I guess maybe it is a light Mikado.

Bobster

[Cajonpassfan]

I'm no NYC expert, but that doesn't look like a light mike, not even a mike
Main driver/second axle...  Think there's a second set of pony wheels hiding under there?
Otto K.

[Chris333]

P&LE didn't have any 4-8-2's or 2-10-2's. I can't find anything on #47    What I find in my P&LE book is that #47 would probably be a 4-4-0   


EDIT:  That is a P&E (no L) 4-8-2 #47 L-1d.
http://www.railarchive.net/nyccollection/pe47.htm