2-6-6-2 Performance Report

[railtwister]

I just had a chance finally to run my new 2-6-6-2 with sound that I purchased last summer, and I must say that it is a sweet running little locomotive. Our On30 module club had set up for a train show this past weekend, and while my Forney had some issues with derailments and couplers due to some slight misalignment between some of the modules, the little articulated ran right through the same spots without any problems. I guess the Forney is not the best choice for running on modules unless all of the members are very careful about their track work and how well they level and align their modules at a meet (but the Forney is still my personal favorite loco). I used to say that the O.F. 2-8-0 was probably Bachmann's best operating On30 loco, but after running the 2-6-6-2, I think it may be a toss up between the two for best runner.

I really love the sound of the brakes squealing when the loco slows down, even though a train show is usually too noisy to really appreciate the Tsunami sound.

Regards,
Bill

[ChrisS]

Isn't it great.  If you think the 2-8-0
Runs good with a factory
Decoder, I was blown away with it's smoothness after
Replacing it

[railtwister]

Hi ChrisS,

Being from the school of "if it ain't broke, don't try to fix it", I'd say that my stock 2-8-0 runs so well with it's out-of-box Bachmann decoder, about the only way I'd consider swapping decoders would be to upgrade to a Tsunami sound system. One of my club members did just that, and he said the conversion was super easy (a drop-in, even the speaker is provided for), and his loco is really sweet! Since both my Forney and 2-6-6-2 have factory installed Tsunami boards, I'm not in any great rush to spend $$ on another sound system right now (but maybe later). Thanks for the info though, it's good t know it could be even better.

Bill
Oakland Park, FL
Florida On30 Renegades

[ChrisS]

That's all I did bill. Went for sound and was Wowwed

[lvrr325]

The 2-6-6-2 has enough weight to the front driver set that it seems to stay on the rails pretty well.  The Forney is more finicky because it balances on the drivers - if it was set up more like a real one, with some articulation of the drivers in relation to the boiler, instead of making the rear truck do all the compensating on curves, it would probably track better.   

My problem with the Forney is it's the most sensitive to elevation changes and track humps, it about needs some type F ("shelf") couplers like tank cars use to keep things coupled to it.