MTH Premier Erie Mikado

[@ChrissTrainsandThings]

Shout out to Matt and RJ for sending some footage of their Mikados!

[@railchief74]

Nice find Chris! I especially like the whistle steam in action

[@mattstrainroom]

Fun to contribute to this one! Great engines...if I didn't already have the Lionel Legacy B&O 4500, I would've gotten that one too! I really like the look of the feedwater heater on that Erie! I believe Pat's Trains did a custom CNJ with that detail.

[@wayneantoniazzi2706]

Beautiful engine and a great show today Chris! I wanted a Mikado myself but couldn't afford the various versions offered over the past years so I made my own! I took a Lionel 736 Berkshire in worn exterior condition, repainted it in a similar manner to that MTH Erie "Mike" and swapped the four-wheel trailing truck for a two-wheel one, easily done by the way. Presto, instant Mikado! I can send pictures if you like. On the USRA of the WW1 era, that was the United States Railway Administration, essentially a nationalization of the American railroads when for various reasons they couldn't coordinate shipments of essential war supplies which lead to backlogs and traffic jams at the shipping ports. Also, the USRA sought to standardize models of various locomotive types to speed production. Up to that point many railroads had their own ideas of what a steam locomotive should be and wouldn't accept any variations. The USRA said "No dice! It's our way or you get nothing!" The top names in locomotive design were brought in to design various types of locomotives from 0-6-0's up to 2-8-8-2's and most were quite good, excellent in fact. However, WW1 ended before many actually made it to American railroads. The USRA went out of existance in 1920 and rail historians have debated its usefulness ever since so I won't go into it here. Again a great show! Thanks for posting!

[@davidjohnson4918]

Hey Buddie Just picked up Yesterday A New Lionel Legacy Mikado Heavyweight.. Very Detailed Beautiful Steam Locomotive ..Thanks For Sharing..& Happy Railroading..😊😅

[@clemsonpirate7144]

MTH whistle steam is very much hit or miss, but this is most definitely a hit. Best MTH whistle steam I’ve ever seen. When it works correctly, it blows Lionel’s out of the water.

[@johnstup4479]

Beautiful engine Chris! I have the Pennsylvania model.

[@GlennFresch]

Thanks for the review. We love our b and o mikado. These are beautiful models.

[@robertmckeever6910]

Chris, USRA was Administration, not Association.

[@williamland1]

Thank you for sharing Cory story too !

[@williamkolina3988]

Chris can you please talk more about the gremlins I wish I had a DCS system MTH makes some beautiful engines.not having DCS keeps me from buying MTH.I am waiting for the new system And by the way the mikado is my favorite type of engine

[@ChrissTrainsandThings]

I just don't have the best DCS signal on my layout. It's mostly due to how I wired it up. I didn't add enough power drops to each loop. DCS is a track based signal where Legacy is in the air, so it works much better without the need for multiple power points.

[@christsogaugetrains]

Well looks good

[@williamland1]

Thanks!

[@rogerstrate5727]

Beautiful locomotive Chris. I'm curious, you mentioned "DCS gremlins" I haven't noticed any problems with my layout which is almost exclusively MTH. I have noticed the whistles and horns on my locomotives don't always work at the push of the button but haven't seen any other problems. Can you take a minute and tell me what issues you have noticed with your MTH products? Thank so much Chris.

[@ChrissTrainsandThings]

I just don't have the best DCS signal on my layout. It's mostly due to how I wired it up. I didn't add enough power drops to each loop. DCS is a track based signal where Legacy is in the air, so it works much better without the need for multiple power points.

[@rogerstrate5727]

Thanks Chris, I can see that as a problem. My layout is quite small and so it's been helpful in wiring situations especially because I use only one TIU, one WIU and one transformer and I only need two wired MTH lockons on each loop of my layout and it runs both loops very well.

[@markericson6418]

Love the detail. I appreciate your content.

[@ChrissTrainsandThings]

Glad you enjoy it!