Nor'Easter Set

[Michigan Railfan]

I was planning on buying Spectrum's Nor'Easter set, but had a few questions.

1. Is the engine included a good runner?
2. Do these cars have the lighted interior?
3. I did the math, and noticed buying an HHP-8 and 3 Amfleets all sperate not in a set was more money than the set. Shouldn't the set cost more because if track and power pack. I wanted to buy it from modeltrainstuff.com (this is where I'm getting the prices). The set is on sale for 179.99, but all of them separate is about 190. Still, then the track + power pack is only 10 dollars. Should I get the set for track, and a lower price (I won't use the power pack), or does buying all of them separate mean they'll run better?

Thanks,
Jake

[jonathan]

3.  Whether it is the set, or separate pieces, it's the same equipment.  The sets are always less expensive than the separate pieces.  Attract new hobbyists.  It's good business, along with a few other reasons.

1.  Engine runs well.

2.  Cars are lighted.

What you didn't ask was how the passenger cars run.  The trucks have a large amount of drag due to the inside bolster. The engine can barely pull the three cars due to drag.  I have seen on another forum where modelers have added a second locomotive to pull a complete consist.

I have the same problem with my Amfleet cars.  I need two locomotives to pull a 6-8 car passenger train.

Don't want to sound biased, but I feel spoiled due to the great running characteristics of the Acela Express Set. 

Regards,

Jonathan

[Michigan Railfan]

Jonathan,
I knew the cars were just absolute terrible rollers. The reason I didn't ask about those is because I figured you could take out the bolster (is that what makes the cars lighted?), and if you can't, please let me know.
So final question, is it worth the extra 10 bucks to buy them separate i.e. will they run better than those included in the set.

[hobo1]

I have this set . the bolsters can be removed from the pass cars,but you wont have lights.all you need is a screwdriver and needle nose pliers. after you remove them the cars will roll smoothly. youll have to use a different electrical pickups on the wheels

[Michigan Railfan]

I have this set . the bolsters can be removed from the pass cars,but you wont have lights.all you need is a screwdriver and needle nose pliers. after you remove them the cars will roll smoothly. youll have to use a different electrical pickups on the wheels

I don't care about lights. Honestly, there's 2 things good about not having lights.
1. They will reduce drag (like you said)
2. The lights drain juice from a power pack, so with no lights means the train will go faster (most likely).
Thanks alot, hobo! Sounds like it's pretty easy to take off.

[Ken S.]

You are better off with the E60CP. I have the HHP and the E60 and the E60 for a standard line product is a heavy hauler. I honestly think it would take 2 HHPs to haul an 8-car set of Walthers Heritage Fleet cars, yet 1 E60 hauled that same consist on my imperfect track.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXcMOtrh4_Y

[Michigan Railfan]

Ken,
I was thinking about one of those, but I've wanted an HHP for a while now. I don't know why but I don't really find those engines very appealing for passenger pulling.
One more question. Would taking the electrical things for the lights out cause any sort of electrical shorts? Just curious.

[ABC]

Usually you create a short by adding something to the circuit or by something touching something it is not supposed to touch. Although anything is possible especially since bad things always happen to you when it comes to your trains; it is highly improbable.

[Michigan Railfan]

Usually you create a short by adding something to the circuit or by something touching something it is not supposed to touch. Although anything is possible especially since bad things always happen to you when it comes to your trains; it is highly improbable.

Haha. That's funny, but very true. Maybe i'm just careless, but I usually take good care of my trains. The ones I don't give as much care to are the really cheap ones.

[Doneldon]

Blink-

Two things:  First, I don't understand why you asked about lights in your first post if you don't care about them

Second, ABC is only partially right.  You can also cause a short if you remove something but aren't careful about any loose wires or live surfaces you leave.  If they touch one another or another live part of the train you will have a short.  This won't happen with these cars but it's good to keep this in mind for future reference.
                                                                                            -- D

[Michigan Railfan]

Doneldon, I asked about lights so that I could know if I would face alot of drag with these cars. So since they do, I'm just going to take off the pickups so my power pack gets more juice and there's almost no drag.

[ABC]

You can also cause a short if you remove something but aren't careful about any loose wires or live surfaces you leave.  If they touch one another or another live part of the train you will have a short.

I stated:

"something touching something it is not supposed to touch."

so I think that covers the loose wires or live surfaces...

[Michigan Railfan]

Thanks guys.
So one last question. How well does the engine run? Is it noisy at all? And how easy would it be to take out the decoder. Just wondering because I run DC, and I've heard that running a DCC equipped engine on DC slows it down. Is this true?

[pipefitter]

... And how easy would it be to take out the decoder. Just wondering because I run DC, and I've heard that running a DCC equipped engine on DC slows it down. Is this true?

Try it with your DC setup first. I've got quite a few Bachmann DCC locos that I run on DC and they operate just fine, smooth and quiet. As a matter of fact, I got a new GP7 a couple of days ago and ran it for the first time yesterday. Absolutely perfect!! Most of my locos show about 5 volts and negligible amps on the pack's meter. The new GP7 shows about 3 volts and neg amps, so it must be very efficient. I have two E60CP DCC locos and they also run perfectly on DC.

Robert

[Ken S.]

I have two E60CP DCC locos and they also run perfectly on DC.

Robert

I run DC and the E60 gives me no grief as the video I linked to shows.