Thanks for sharing, Steve. I have four of these beasties. Two from the first run I believe in 2009 and two more from the 2018 release. All of these models are beautiful models, but they had two fatal flaws that almost put me into the Loony-bin. The first was the grain-of-wheat incandescent light bulbs used for lighting that were prone to burning out if you toggled them between "high" and "low" beam. They were also a real pain in the ass to replace if you were able to disassemble the skyline shroud from the boiler without destroying the model. The other flaw was that Athearn used very stiff springs in the #2 driver that literally forced the #1 and #3 driver to ride above the plain of the railhead thus reducing the models ability to barely propel itself over the layout. In essence, I have four highly detailed, $600 door-stops that I have to double-head with other locomotive just to get them to pull anything. It appears that the folks at Athearn finally resolved these two technical drawbacks by using LEDs this time around and installing equalizer springs with the proper tension. It also appears that Athearn finally installed a quality Tsunami2 sound decoder in this batch so hopefully the driver-chuff sync is resolved along with the horrible sound quality associated with in the earlier models. My #4357 arrived the other month from TrainWorld and I still have to lubricate the mechanism, check wheel-gauge/coupler-height, program the decoder and a proper break-in, but I'm encouraged by your video that Athearn finally got their collective heads out of their back-sides and manufactured a proper model for once.
Thanks for sharing your experience with these models. I haven't done any lubrication on my 4357, perhaps that is something I need to look in to? When I was doing some research on these MT-4's, I was happy to see that Athearn had done some upgrades that address the issues you had with earlier versions of these locomotives. I have about an hour of runtime on my locomotive, and it runs beautifully. Sometimes a guy gets lucky, and I'm glad I waited until now to get one of these locomotives. My layout is down right now because I'm doing a lot of scenic rock work. Once the layout is operational again, I plan to get my 4357 out. I appreciate your input. I think you'll have better luck if you are buying this latest revision. Thanks for watching and happy modeling!
@@SPSteve Lubrication is fairly easy but you have to be very careful when doing it. Place your model in a foam cradle and remove the screws securing the cover plate over the wheels and mechanism. Once you've completed this, lift the cover plate straight-up and try not to dislocate any of the drivers seated in the frame. I have used the WoodlandScenic Moly lubrication over the years with excellent results. Apply a glob to each driver bushing (numbers #1, #3 and #4) then squirt some Moly down #2 driver where the main drive gear is located. Be careful not to over do it and have Moley grease oozing all over the place. Replace the cover and secure it with the mounting screws. Make sure that they are tight but don't "gorilla-torque" them and damage the seating holes. Take a few moments to "dab" some LaBelle Lubricant on any portion of the driver and piston rods that either move and/or bear friction. Don't over do it here and wipe away any excess with a paper towel or rag. Once you're done, place the model on your layout and basically run it in circles at about 1/2 throttle speed for about an hour. Then reverse direction to complete the process. This should fully break-in the mechanism and seat the motor brushes. Good luck and post more videos of your layout as you make progress!
@@StillPlaysWithModelTrains1956 Thanks for the detailed explanation! I plan to continue sharing videos of the layout's progress. I've been laying up rock castings the past 2 days getting ready for work in a new area of the layout. I appreciate you watching!
It is a beauty. Trainworld has them on sale. You can get one exactly like mine for $399.99. I agree shame a lot of the classic locomotives weren't preserved.
Great looking locomotive Steve glad it’s working well on the layout. I don’t own any steam locomotives either never had much luck as a kid but have often thought of getting one. Great share and video Have a great rest of your week 😎🚂🫵
Thanks Mike! The MT-4 ran great on my layout, so I was pleased with that. Not sure if I'll get any more steam, who knows? But it's nice to have one. Enjoy your week as well.
awesome! (locomotive and layout). I picked up a Daylight one from Lombard for my passenger trains. Haven't had a chance to get the box opened yet though. Glad to see the positive review!
Thanks! The Daylight scheme looks terrific. I considered it but I didn't think it would look right pulling freight. I'm very pleased with the locomotive. The speed table could use some adjustment in my opinion but otherwise runs perfectly. I hope the experience with your Daylight is just as positive.
It is a beautiful model! The chuffs could be, I'm not very familiar with steam so I don't know. Athearn included a page with some suggested CV adjustments, perhaps that would fix it? I'm focused on working on my layout, so I haven't looked into it. Thanks for watching!
Very nice locomotive. I live 15 minutes away from Lombard hobbies. Good bunch of guys working there. Every time I go there for something I leave with two other items that were on sale or discounted. How’s the home project coming along? I’m hoping you get that project done so you can get back to work on the car. ( I can’t wait to see what you do under the hood )
I have half the floor tile taken up and I have the walls I'm putting back in framed up. I plan to get drywall in a few days. I have to do half the floor at a time since I have to move the furniture back and forth. I'm hoping to be finished by November, but I'll have to work on it until it's done, however long that is. Doing the front of the Rallye 350 should be more fun than the bottom of the car. I'll give Lombard Hobbies a look next time I'm buying stuff for the model railroad.
That’s a really nice looking and running steam locomotive, Steve. It ran great on your layout too. Congratulations.
Thanks Derek, I couldn't be happier. I think it paid off to wait for the right locomotive at the right time. I appreciate you watching!
Thanks for sharing, Steve. I have four of these beasties. Two from the first run I believe in 2009 and two more from the 2018 release. All of these models are beautiful models, but they had two fatal flaws that almost put me into the Loony-bin. The first was the grain-of-wheat incandescent light bulbs used for lighting that were prone to burning out if you toggled them between "high" and "low" beam. They were also a real pain in the ass to replace if you were able to disassemble the skyline shroud from the boiler without destroying the model. The other flaw was that Athearn used very stiff springs in the #2 driver that literally forced the #1 and #3 driver to ride above the plain of the railhead thus reducing the models ability to barely propel itself over the layout. In essence, I have four highly detailed, $600 door-stops that I have to double-head with other locomotive just to get them to pull anything. It appears that the folks at Athearn finally resolved these two technical drawbacks by using LEDs this time around and installing equalizer springs with the proper tension. It also appears that Athearn finally installed a quality Tsunami2 sound decoder in this batch so hopefully the driver-chuff sync is resolved along with the horrible sound quality associated with in the earlier models. My #4357 arrived the other month from TrainWorld and I still have to lubricate the mechanism, check wheel-gauge/coupler-height, program the decoder and a proper break-in, but I'm encouraged by your video that Athearn finally got their collective heads out of their back-sides and manufactured a proper model for once.
Thanks for sharing your experience with these models. I haven't done any lubrication on my 4357, perhaps that is something I need to look in to? When I was doing some research on these MT-4's, I was happy to see that Athearn had done some upgrades that address the issues you had with earlier versions of these locomotives. I have about an hour of runtime on my locomotive, and it runs beautifully. Sometimes a guy gets lucky, and I'm glad I waited until now to get one of these locomotives. My layout is down right now because I'm doing a lot of scenic rock work. Once the layout is operational again, I plan to get my 4357 out. I appreciate your input. I think you'll have better luck if you are buying this latest revision. Thanks for watching and happy modeling!
@@SPSteve Lubrication is fairly easy but you have to be very careful when doing it. Place your model in a foam cradle and remove the screws securing the cover plate over the wheels and mechanism. Once you've completed this, lift the cover plate straight-up and try not to dislocate any of the drivers seated in the frame. I have used the WoodlandScenic Moly lubrication over the years with excellent results. Apply a glob to each driver bushing (numbers #1, #3 and #4) then squirt some Moly down #2 driver where the main drive gear is located. Be careful not to over do it and have Moley grease oozing all over the place. Replace the cover and secure it with the mounting screws. Make sure that they are tight but don't "gorilla-torque" them and damage the seating holes. Take a few moments to "dab" some LaBelle Lubricant on any portion of the driver and piston rods that either move and/or bear friction. Don't over do it here and wipe away any excess with a paper towel or rag. Once you're done, place the model on your layout and basically run it in circles at about 1/2 throttle speed for about an hour. Then reverse direction to complete the process. This should fully break-in the mechanism and seat the motor brushes. Good luck and post more videos of your layout as you make progress!
@@StillPlaysWithModelTrains1956 Thanks for the detailed explanation! I plan to continue sharing videos of the layout's progress. I've been laying up rock castings the past 2 days getting ready for work in a new area of the layout. I appreciate you watching!
I have to own one of those at some point it's my favorite 4-8-2 and it is a crime non exist today
It is a beauty. Trainworld has them on sale. You can get one exactly like mine for $399.99. I agree shame a lot of the classic locomotives weren't preserved.
Great looking locomotive Steve glad it’s working well on the layout. I don’t own any steam locomotives either never had much luck as a kid but have often thought of getting one. Great share and video Have a great rest of your week 😎🚂🫵
Thanks Mike! The MT-4 ran great on my layout, so I was pleased with that. Not sure if I'll get any more steam, who knows? But it's nice to have one. Enjoy your week as well.
awesome! (locomotive and layout). I picked up a Daylight one from Lombard for my passenger trains. Haven't had a chance to get the box opened yet though. Glad to see the positive review!
Thanks! The Daylight scheme looks terrific. I considered it but I didn't think it would look right pulling freight. I'm very pleased with the locomotive. The speed table could use some adjustment in my opinion but otherwise runs perfectly. I hope the experience with your Daylight is just as positive.
I've had mine for two weeks.
How do you like it? Mine is sitting in my display cabinet; I'm working on the layout so I'm not running trains right now.
looks gorgeous!!! However the chuffs seems a little off
It is a beautiful model! The chuffs could be, I'm not very familiar with steam so I don't know. Athearn included a page with some suggested CV adjustments, perhaps that would fix it? I'm focused on working on my layout, so I haven't looked into it. Thanks for watching!
Very nice locomotive. I live 15 minutes away from Lombard hobbies. Good bunch of guys working there. Every time I go there for something I leave with two other items that were on sale or discounted. How’s the home project coming along? I’m hoping you get that project done so you can get back to work on the car. ( I can’t wait to see what you do under the hood )
I have half the floor tile taken up and I have the walls I'm putting back in framed up. I plan to get drywall in a few days. I have to do half the floor at a time since I have to move the furniture back and forth. I'm hoping to be finished by November, but I'll have to work on it until it's done, however long that is. Doing the front of the Rallye 350 should be more fun than the bottom of the car. I'll give Lombard Hobbies a look next time I'm buying stuff for the model railroad.