MTL SW1500 Close UP photos

[Philip H]

Since folks have been digitally screaming for pics of the newest small switcher in 'da hood (!) I grabbed mine out of the box when my Chuck Pac (TM) arrived Monday and snapped some shots on an unfinished portion of the layout.

Here's an overhead comparison with an Atlas MP15DC:



And a side by side:



Looking closely at the trucks, you can see the brass wipers that some folks are concerned about.  Here's a close up:



Given that this is the frame and motor, I see why Digitrax had to make a whole new decoder:





This is definitely the original LL/China SW mechanism, as a quick comparison to Spookshow's site shows:

http://www.spookshow.net/llsw.html

No idea how she runs yet - I don't have said decoder installed, and my DC power pack for pretesting is on the fritz.  One interesting thing is that the cab appears to be filled with a blackened metal weight, so that's what is making lighting the back light tough.  I'm sure Ron or Peteski will be regalinign us with methods to drill and runs SMDs with magnet wire soon enough.

[seusscaboose]

Thanks for the pics
and the info

[daniel_leavitt2000]

It does look notably wider, but not so much as to ruin the model. It's a bit like Kato wide bodies as opposed to Bachmann's.

The writers and attachment points look a lot thicker on this than the SW1200 shell.

A weight in the cab actually helps with the lighting: No need for a light block. Just drill the center and install an LED.

Really looking forward to the Conrail units now.

[Bob Bufkin]

And roller bearing trucks.  Nice.

[Philip H]

Bob I think these are technically the AAR style . . . but they match KCS prototypes so I'll be dipping this one soon enough to paint it white (I reserved a grey one from the second release).  I was a bit concerned about the grey trucks on the UP unit standing in for a KCS, but by the 1995 start of my modelling era, most of the white SW's had such rusted and faded trucks it didn't matter.

[Bob Bufkin]

I was wondering if you were going to do a repaint.  The original photos of the first release showed showed friction trucks, so I was surprised to find the roller bearing ones.  Guess I can now order a Reaing unit with the correct trucks.

[Sokramiketes]

It does look notably wider, but not so much as to ruin the model. It's a bit like Kato wide bodies as opposed to Bachmann's.

How wide are the Kato units like the SD45?  I thought it was in the .020" range, not the .040" of the MTL width compromise.

Did MTL widen the porches to match, effectively scaling the whole model over 1:160, or did they leave the overall dimensions at 1:160?

Does anyone think the brass wipers are going to cause any issues long term?  They look like straight brass instead of phosphor bronze.

[peteski]

I'm sure Ron or Peteski will be regalinign us with methods to drill and runs SMDs with magnet wire soon enough.

 
I am not planning on picking up any of these so I probably won't be doing any lighting modifications.  But like Daniel said - rear headlight install should not be too difficult.  But it will result with wires between the shell and chassis (which I don't care for).  Best solution would have been to install the rear LED in the chassis then use a light pipe to direct the light to the rear headlight (like Kato SW1).  But that is not to be.

Mike,
while I'm not a metallurgist, I don't think that there is much difference (either conductivity-wise or oxidation-resistance) between phosphor-bronze and brass.  As long as the contacts are kept clean, there should be no issues.

[Bob Bufkin]

Philip can't see if those have footboards or not.  Early version did before they were outlawed.  Also for KCS they originally came with body mounted handrails and most were converted to frame handrails later on.  Don't know what time frame you are doing but these are a few things to consider.

[Philip H]

This particular one doesn't; I'm modeling 1995 and later, so the footboards would have been gone by then anyway.

[Bob Bufkin]

Then you should also be good on the frame mounted handrails.

[Sokramiketes]

Mike,
while I'm not a metallurgist, I don't think that there is much difference (either conductivity-wise or oxidation-resistance) between phosphor-bronze and brass.  As long as the contacts are kept clean, there should be no issues.

It's more the springiness right?

[MichaelWinicki]

Yep, looks like the brass wipers are more substantial than are on my SW1200's. 

I look forward to getting a PC painted unit if/when they become available.

[peteski]

It's more the springiness right?

Sure.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phosphor_bronze

But in this particular application I don't think that there is all that much vertical play to preclude brass from being used. Even brass comes in several hardnesses, so the alloy chosen by MT should be springy enough. I hope... 

[Rich_S]

Philip H, Thank you for posting the pictures of the new AAR truck side frame. I'm looking forward to the body mounted hand rail units.