Con Cor MP15

[Joetrain59]

I grabbed one of these, as I was intrigued by the "upgraded mechanism". What was upgraded? It is an excellent running loco, right out of the box.
 I wonder if I could use handrails from the Atlas version, and maybe a few other parts, too. The big problem is the truck mounted couplers and the open pilot.

Joe D

[spookshow]

That would be news to me. AFAIK, there was only the one (2005) production run. Maybe Pete is comparing them to Con-Cor's older SW1200 model?

-Mark

[Joetrain59]

Mark, factory painted on the lid for the jewel says,"All new MP15 mechanism"  Quite the mystery. I will try to get some photos of this new mechanism this weekend, and post them.
 I need to find Micro Trains pilot conversion for the very old Kato GP38-2.
 Joe D

[tehachapifan]

IDK about this supposed (recent?) improved mechanism, but the one I have from many years ago runs super smooth and quiet. It may actually be one of my smoothest running locos. Shell is nothing to write home about though, with the stove pipe handrails, clunky relief details and whatever is going on with the cab windows along with the wide hood. What I find interesting is it appears they could've just as easily gone with a slimmer frame and a more correct width hood, as the motor is much slimmer than the frame. Maybe they were worried about motor heat and wanted room between the motor and the shell? I think this was an earlier concern with other manufacturers as well.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

IDK about this supposed (recent?) improved mechanism, but the one I have from many years ago runs super smooth and quiet. It may actually be one of my smoothest running locos. Shell is nothing to write home about though, with the stove pipe handrails, clunky relief details and whatever is going on with the cab windows along with the wide hood. What I find interesting is it appears they could've just as easily gone with a slimmer frame and a more correct width hood, as the motor is much slimmer than the frame. Maybe they were worried about motor heat and wanted room between the motor and the shell? I think this was an earlier concern with other manufacturers as well.

The intrigue of this specific model was that the shell was tooled in the 80's. I think the tooling might have been made by Roco, as construction is similar to their SD40-2 and SD50. It was supposed to go under a modified version of the Kato made SW1200 chassis, or so the rumor goes. I have my doubts. The truck centers are off, and the trucks are AAR-A rather than the larger Blomberg. This would require a totally new chassis, trucks and gear set to work.

My guess is that it was made to fit a Japanese Kato engine of similar size, or it was going to be a Roco mechanism as well. Somewhere along the way the project was shelved for nearly 20 years until CC started contracting China for other projects.

Charlie Vic would know a lot more about it as he was working with CC at the time.

I have one final theory. While the shell is old tooling, I think the handrails are actually made around the same time as the chassis. They have far more detail than Roco at the time and my guess is they were produced as large as they are because of the large old mounting holes on the shell.

[CBQ Fan]

I saw the foobie CB&Q shell on it and ran away as fast as I could!

[ncbqguy]

I don’t know who actually tooled the body.   It isn’t Roco quality so I would guess it was Mehano or some non-prime tool shop.  Possibly the same used for the C-636 and SD40-2    I think the drive was supposed to be a Kato but I think some other projects delayed the completion to the time of the end of the Con-Cor relationship with the beginning of Kato USA.  I think the engine came out after production in China was up and running so I doubt that Roco was used for the mechanism.  I had to look at Sookshow to see one; too new of a prototype and I’ve never had one in my hands.  Looks like a regular split frame drive with no Roco parts to me.
The original shell tooling had Mehano style handrails IIRC.
Charlie Vlk

[spookshow]

I wonder if "All New MP15 Mechanism" simply means that it was all new for the MP15 (IE, not recycled from some other/earlier model)? I'm still having a hard time believing that there was a second production run, given how slow sales were on the first run.

-Mark

[Mark5]

I wonder if "All New MP15 Mechanism" simply means that it was all new for the MP15 (IE, not recycled from some other/earlier model)?
-Mark

I think Mark is probably "on the money" here - Jim Conway was never afraid to "talk up" his products.  Technically, he is correct in saying "all new ... " 

[spookshow]

Yeah, he probably wanted to make sure that people knew it wasn't just the old SW1200 mech with a new shell on top of it.

-Mark

[Joetrain59]

Sorry for the late reply. With the shell off, mechanism is exactly like the one in Marks review. I have attached a photo of loco with frame halves apart. But I don't have an older one to compare with. Someone else?
 Joe D

[peteski]

Interesting.  The low-friction trucks with metal idler gear axles remind me of the Life-Like (Walthers) SW-1200 trucks. I believe that all the other similar design trucks use plastic idler axles molded along with the idler gears.

[spookshow]

I bought mine right when they came out, so it's as old as they get.

-Mark

[Joetrain59]

Mark, would you be willing to open your loco up, to photo the mechanism?
 Joe D

[tehachapifan]

I have a couple from long ago that look exactly the same. May I ask why you need photos?