How many cars for Emily?

[Zophiel]

I'm just beginning in the HO hobby and my latest purchase (as of about 15 minutes ago) is the Emily, tender, and two cars set. I'm wondering how many additional cars is possible without making the train far too slow or risking damage to the engine.

[the Bach-man]

Dear Zophiel,
I'd think two is just about right.
Have fun!
the Bach-man

[Zophiel]

Thank you for the response. In essence, this is a pulling strength question. Just to confirm, is that the two the set comes with or two in addition. Thanks again.

[DealAjani]

Two that the set comes with, but my Emily can pull four coaches no problem.

[Zophiel]

Thanks. I suspect two extra coaches are my next purchase(s).

[trainguy111]

Emily is based on the Stirling Single. It has a tractive effort of 11,245 pounds, which is about 374 horsepower. I'm not sure how many that would be in HO scale.

[StanierJack]

Emily is based on the Stirling Single. It has a tractive effort of 11,245 pounds, which is about 374 horsepower. I'm not sure how many that would be in HO scale.

I'm sure Emily is not a live steam HO scale Single

[JD417]

Emily is based on the Stirling Single. It has a tractive effort of 11,245 pounds, which is about 374 horsepower. I'm not sure how many that would be in HO scale.

I'm sure Emily is not a live steam HO scale Single

but if she was that would be awesome! 

[trainguy111]

Emily is based on the Stirling Single. It has a tractive effort of 11,245 pounds, which is about 374 horsepower. I'm not sure how many that would be in HO scale.

I'm sure Emily is not a live steam HO scale Single

I didn't say she was. I was just giving you an idea on how many she could pull.

[LarryC]

I have Emily, her tender and 2 coaches.  She can pull maybe one additional small car after that, but otherwise she loses traction and spins out.
If you add a little bit of weight, she can do more, but I don't know if that will damage the motor or not.

[trainguy111]

I have Emily, her tender and 2 coaches.  She can pull maybe one additional small car after that, but otherwise she loses traction and spins out.
If you add a little bit of weight, she can do more, but I don't know if that will damage the motor or not.

Yeah. The real stirling single wasn't much of a puller. My best bet is to study what Emily pulled in the TV series and maybe go from there.

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

No, for Emily, go by what LarryC just said. He just stated the Bachmann model's capabilities. Emily's TV-series model is of higher quality, and can pull more. It's not a good comparison to the commercial model.

[Len]

In most of the pictures I've been able to track down, it looks like 2 - 4 coaches was the norm. I found one with 6 coaches, but it was obvious the loco was straining.

Remember, the Sterling was built for speed - not pulling power.

Len