Pennsylvania Railroad Steam Superpower: Q1(4-6-4-4) & Q2(4-4-6-4) Duplexes and J1. BLI & NJCB.

The PRR Q1 is a NJCB early Korean brass made in 1979(?). The Q2 and J1 are BLI run of mill with subpar Paragon decoders. These are the largest and most powerful steam locomotives that PRR built for freight.
I know that a lot of people are going to ask me about Q1 model. So, I copied and pasted from my previous Q1 YT video. Apologies for bell in Q1 that got stuck during the whole video recording.
The PRR Q1 was an experimental high powered freight locomotive with unique 4-6-4-4 driver arrangement. It wasn't an articulated locomotive, but they were described as "duplex" in PRR terminology. It had 2 sets of "opposed pistons". See how rods move! The first set had traditional layout. It was just bellow the smokebox. The second set it was located bellow the firebox. I guess the reason was to have the shortest drivers wheelbase. The second set under the firebox proved to be the Achilles' heel. Ashes will fall onto these cylinders and the heat contributed to far more maintenance work and wear. The prototype that followed, the PRR Q2 with wheel arrangement 4-4-6-4, was very successful. It had the most horsepower of any steam locomotive ever produced, but it came during the time that the more economical and flexible electric diesel locomotives were started their in runs on class 1 railroads.
About the model: This is one of two model releases ever made in brass or HO scale. This early 80's model it was produced by Daiyoung, an early brass maker and sold by NJCB. Because of being a early korean brass model, it had some constructions issues. Mainly, cracked solder joints. Also the gearboxes had very delicate fiber idle gears that worn away and strip in a shot time. I redid much of soldering work with a resistor solder and I upgraded the drivetrain with a new modern can motor and Samhongsa gearboxes. Now, it runs ultra smooth. After all modifications and custom paint, I installed a Tsunami sound decoder. The Tsunami decoders may have more "bells and whistles" on the sound part, but they are poor performers in the drive part. They are very hard to adjust with to many CVs, have poor BEFM, they like to overheat (and shut down) and they have mediocre low speed motor control. These problems get amplified with large or articulated locomotives. However, in this Q1 locomotive, it works pretty fine. The sounds make a nice doppler effect. I still have to adjust a little of drive and sound.

[@tommythomason6187]

A trio of monster engines rounding a bend with a big train. This is an awesome recreation of what the real thing must have looked like. Great scenery, too.

[@truebras]

It is very unlikely that they ran this way. Most likely a Q2 with J1 at end as pusher going uphill.
But in the world of HO, it is fine.

[@officialpennsyjoe]

Man, if only my Q1 was fixed...

[@truebras]

The NJCB was made by Daiyoung. It is an early Korean brass e.I. terrible. See in this video description what fixes and upgrades I did in this model.
As mater of fact, this is the second of 3 Q1 that I worked. They all suffer the same problems. They were made single small run too. Only 100 bullet nose and 100 flat nose. Possible, only Key made another even smaller run.
So, we are talking about even less models that PRR S1. That was made by 4 brass manufacturers.

[@officialpennsyjoe]

@@truebras I remembered your first video. I have Q1 currently with a broken guide for the pivot joint that guides the piston shaft into and out of the right rear cylinder. It seems as though the locomotive binded and broke the soldering joint that holds that guild linkage piece to the cylinders. Do you know if thay can be fixed?

[@truebras]

@@officialpennsyjoe ,
Looks that you got common problems of this model.
The binding could be from eccentric got loose and off of ideal position from the wheel and bind against the linkage of other drivers.
Or the large gear worn out and created a bind in the gearbox. The gear in the driver axle is made of machined PCB, yes the same material that makes circuit board and very fragile, special if you use the wrong oil.
Of 3 models of Q1 that I worked, 2 had failure of the gearbox. So, the solution is replacing the whole 2 sets of gearboxes or replace the drivers gears. In the model of video, I replaced them with a pair of Samhongsa gearboxes.
NWSL had listed this gear for it. In any event, if you find out that you need to replace a gear, replace both or replace both gearbox.
Are you at Pennsylvania Railroad Modelers FB group?
If you are can you send pics of problem with valve guide rod? Please, wait few minutes until I post this video over there.
Can you

[@officialpennsyjoe]

@@truebras I am not a part of their group, but I can join.

[@truebras]

@@officialpennsyjoe,
Did you get the bullet or flat nose? Is it panted or not?

[@SouRwy4501Productions]

I wonder what turn radius those engines are rated for? I’m thinking about getting a J1

[@truebras]

J1 have much smaller distance between the 1st and 5th main drivers. They also have the 3rd driver blind. Either for BLI or WSM in brass they will negotiate 18 in radius curves.
No same can be said about Q1 nor Q2 which I recommend 24 in or higher.

[@SouRwy4501Productions]

@@truebras that’s awesome! I operate a minimum of 18 inch radius curves so a j1 could fit on my railroad.

[@truebras]

@@SouRwy4501Productions I any case, get in with BLI about minimum required radius for their J1. What I said is an estimation. I usually run my models in a large layout with 26+ in curves.
The BLI J1 is one of its best models. It has great pulling power, but because it is one of first BLI products, it is a bit crude. It has boiler and tender shells made of plastic.

[@dalecherne5377]

What did you use for the smoke generator? Seuthe?

[@joepinto509]

It's probably a mth 1.0 smoke unit...