Proto 2000 EMD SW8/900 w/sound and dcc

[Tom Hogan]

I am thinking of buying one of these....any pro/cons?
Would be my 1st sound unit...I use EZCommand

[r0bert]

the're great little locos, that can be found on sale right now for around $100 or so.
the ez command will operate just fine with this loco, functions 1 thru 8 plus light functions.
in short, go for it, you will ot be disappionted.

[Atlantic Central]

Tom,

I don't do sound or DCC, but I will give a big yes to Proto2000. I have a large fleet of Proto Diesels (45 or 50 at last count) and they are great. Great detail, great running and an great value if you shop around.

Proto diesels, Athearn diesels and Spectrum steam account for most of my motive power and I am very pleased with all in both price and performance.

Sheldon

[Bill Baker]

Tom,

Let me second what Sheldon said.  I have a P2K SW8 in DC and it runs really well.  It has great low speed characteristics and can push/pull about 8 or 9 freight cars without any problem.  I have a 2% grade that I make it climb every now and then, and it can pull about 6 cars without spinning out or stalling.  Now, not all of my freight cars are in good shape and some of the wheels need cleaning, but for the most part it handles them quite well. I usually keep my switcher in the yards on a dead block and only rarely run it around my entire layout.  It would be a great buy...go for it.

[Tom Hogan]

Ok...thanks for all the replies....I think I'll try out "sound"
They're on sale from an internet supplier I've used before ($100)
Tom

[keddiewye]

i bought one of those 100 dollar sw8's and just returned it. The thing had traction tires, which didnt impress me, and ran very poorly.  It was so light, that it lost good contact frequently with the track, and would shut down.

i took it to the local train shoppe, and the owner said that in order to fit the speaker into the frame, a lot of metal had to be cut from the frame, leaving the engine underweight (hence the need for traction tires)

incidentally, the Walther's lady (who was very nice) said that they had gotten quite a few returns on this sw8, and that walther's was discontinuing it.

i returned it and replaced it with a heavier machine from atlas and have had no problems.

hope you had better luck than i did;)

[Atlantic Central]

Tom,

Keddiewye's experiance with the sound equiped version does not surprise me. A loco that small with sound is bound to be light weight to allow room for the speaker.

If you can do without sound, a DC version is sure to perform better and will accept a DCC decoder with no problem.

Sheldon