There was nothing on TV the other night so I popped in my Southern Pacific Cab Forwards DVD. I love those engines! They sure were massive, I wish I was alive at the time to see a real one. I have an older MTH Railking That is my favorite. Lets see some pictures of your cab Forwards. Here is a picture of my RailKing SP cab forward and Lionel SP bay window caboose

This message has been edited. Last edited by: harleyhouse,

California Railroad museum has a real one.

rat

And here is a picture of the real one that Rat was talking about.
Massive, O yea.

A favorite of mine too!

MTH Premier:










Jim

Jim:
Your engine is awsome! I would have liked a cab ride in the real thing. I bet it would give a whole new perspective to grade crossing near misses with cars.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by JimJams:
And here is a picture of the real one that Rat was talking about.
Massive, O yea.

In my video there is a bonus film on when the California RR museum rolled her in there. The engine and tender went in seperate an SW1500 pulled the locomotive off the turn table from inside the turn table and when it was off. a gp9 pushed it the rest of the way in. This is an awsome engine!

Mine will take to Hill by Christmas this year. Under the snowsheds at Norden, through tunnel 6 and on down to Truckee through shed 47.

I have the Railking version myself. My wife is not too pleased with it because it is by far my best smoker and she has her quilt operation in the same basement room.

Anyone have the Lionmaster version that could post a few pics of it with scale sized freight cars? I've been told it looks a little small with scale cars but I've never seen it with my own eyes.

quote:

I've been told it looks a little small with scale cars but I've never seen it with my own eyes.

I don't have pics handy but I can tell you that my Lionmaster version looks right at home pulling a nice long string of Lionel's recent PFE reefers.

As to pulling scale cars, I was not so pleased and started putting a semi-scale (water tender) tank car behind the tender before the first scale car. That way the locomotive looks massive (as it should) and the tank car looks small.

That's a scale 4-8-4 #844 in the backgroud of this picture.

I subscribe to Classic Toy Trains magazine (also O Gauge Railroading), so I get emails on the various related magazines. I received one today and the cover article for the fall issue of Classic Trains is about cab forwards.

I don't read Classic Trains, so I can't comment on the magazine in general, or this article in particular, but cab forward fans might want to check it out.

tales from the front

I curious. What is it about the cab forwards that appeals to all of you? I admit that I am partial to Pocahantas region (N&W, C&O) and Potomac River Valley (BO, WM) steam power so I don't get it.

They are so ugly they are beautiful! The word assbackwards come to mind, The size, Power and motion of these beasts are amazing. I was born 35 years too late to see any in action but my collection of films and books makes the Cab forwards my favorite. Challengers, Big boys, alleghenys, and Y6b engines are all cool but the cab forward is awsome to me! and I would say the SP cab forwards gave the best view of any engine steam or diesel.

The cab forwards had such high draw bar pull they could not be double headed in freight service. The couplers of the day on freight cars were not strong enough. The force of the heavy freight would cause the first cars coupler to break. This is why they would be placed in the middle of the train of as a pusher.

They were used on mountain passenger service but on timed passenger runs they could not keep up the speed.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by trestrainfan:
I subscribe to Classic Toy Trains magazine (also O Gauge Railroading), so I get emails on the various related magazines. I received one today and the cover article for the fall issue of Classic Trains is about cab forwards.


I don't subscribe to classic trains but I will go and get this issue at the book store. Love the Reverse Mallets!

harleyhouse,

The AC-11 and AC-12 class Cab Forwards had 124,300 pounds of tractive effort, which was pretty high. No where near as high as N&W Y class, A class, C&O H-8 class, and UP 4000 class; all of which where doubleheaded at one time or another. Sure, two Cab Forwards on the head end "could" break apart a train on the 2.43% eastbound Sierra grade. However, a much more important consideration for not doubleheading the Cab Forwards, was the closeness and frequency of the snow sheds & tunnels! The second locomotive would be an unbareable envirnment for the crew in the cab, which would be only about 70 feet right behind the lead locomotive's exhaust!

To add to Hot Water's excellent point, the showsheds and tunnels were the reason the Cab Forwards were built that way in the first place.

On another matter,
Klazys wrote:

quote:

As to pulling scale cars, I was not so pleased and started putting a semi-scale (water tender) tank car behind the tender before the first scale car. That way the locomotive looks massive (as it should) and the tank car looks small.

If you don't want to use a semi-scale car in an otherwise scale consist, a scale WWII-era 8000 gallon tanker is perfect to put behind the engine for the same purpose. It is time-correct, and would actually be smaller than many semi-scale models of modern cars. Both Lionel and Atlas make these cars. You could also use a gondola, or a short flatcar with a small load. Lionel makes a 40' flatcar with tarp-covered crates that would fill the bill perfectly.

I sent mine of to MTH Repair heaven 30 minutes of run time bad smoker and driver stuck.

I have a Mike's SP Cab Forward. I am having trouble with it on my layout. I have 090 curves and still does not like to stay on the track, yet when I run it at my model railroad club, she runs flawlesly. Any suggestions? It states in the manual it will run on 072. Is that a false statement?

What MTH or Lionel caboose would you guys suggest for this beauty?

I have models of almost every class, from MM2, MC6, AC4, AC8, and AC10. I built an AC3 for a friend. I'd post them all here, but they can be found on another forum, where I have figured out the secret of photo posting. All are scratchbuilt except the AC8, which is a 1941 Lobaugh. I'd love to show them to you.

If it states o72 that is most deffinetely the curves it will run on. My guess since it runs fine on your clubs layout is that the issue is with the tracks on your layout. Run your finger along the tops of the rails around the curve and check for any track imperfections. This would be my guess.

quote:

Originally posted by IC Man:
I have a Mike's SP Cab Forward. I am having trouble with it on my layout. I have 090 curves and still does not like to stay on the track, yet when I run it at my model railroad club, she runs flawlesly. Any suggestions? It states in the manual it will run on 072. Is that a false statement?

What MTH or Lionel caboose would you guys suggest for this beauty?

quote:

Originally posted by IC Man:
I have a Mike's SP Cab Forward. I am having trouble with it on my layout. I have 090 curves and still does not like to stay on the track, yet when I run it at my model railroad club, she runs flawlesly. Any suggestions? It states in the manual it will run on 072. Is that a false statement?

What MTH or Lionel caboose would you guys suggest for this beauty?

In my opinion, the K-Line high end scale cabeese are the best looking cabeese available. Check with the Western Depot in California (Yuba City, I believe) they had some SP bay window cabeese done as an exclusive run, there were 3 different road#s available. I also have the wood sided off set cupola in SP, it is also a very good looking caboose, but whether it is correct behind the cab forward I don't know.

Doug

I have three MTH Premiers running in PS-2 (conversions) on O72 track with absolutely no problems for the last 5 years. As suggested above, I'd also guess that your O90 track has some issues. Joe

Modifed RK version:

Concerning the Lionmaster cab-forward of 2006, would its overall
reduced size lend itself more favorably to pulling Postwar-sized
rolling stock, as opposed to the scale stuff?

HOPPY

It will look OK with either, but I think it looks best with the smaller cars. I run my Lionmaster Big Boy with traditional size rolling stock, as I have several large scale steamers to run with scale cars. The Lionmaster engine looks great pulling 20 or more 6464 type boxcars. The smaller cars do emphasize the engine's size and make it look more massive.

I just got the SP & UP back from repair, both were made wrong now though they are good as gold.

I am a cab-forward fanatic! I have 6 cab forwards, 2 Williams that I had detail added (more pipes from the sand domes, pipes under the cab and monkey deck, blow-off valves, cab roof gutters, smokebox and pump detail the huge C-shaped pipe above the rear drivers, all tender grab irons etc.), 2 Sunsets, AC-7, AC-5, 1 Lionel AC-12, 1 MTH AC-6 and even a Lionel AC-9. I also have many DVDs and videos of these engines. I have many other articulateds as well, Big Boys, Yellowstones, 2-8-8-2s, but the cab forwards are my favorites.