I've been wanting to get one of these for my layout. What's holding me back is the DCC. I can't afforded a sound one, and I've heard that it has a plug, but you have to replace and program the lights to the decoder. Is that true with P2K's?
I received my two B&Y H10-44s (276 and 281) and they are simply amazing. They were in service within an hour of me ripping the shipping carton apart to get to them. Hey, even us old guys get excited about this stuff. The sound is really good to my untrained ear. While these units never served in KC, they are until I can get my VO-1000s painted and lettered in the original paint scheme. Gotta get that FM plate on the nose . . . .
Ethan, Never fear, I have two O/W on order with my mail order dealer. If I am not mistaken, the Frisco received their first H10-44 sometime in the very late 1940s or the very early 1950s. The B&Y paint scheme by Walters represents the second or third b&y sheme (probably about 1955 on) with gothic letters and fewer stripes so I am using Rule 1 liberally. Bottom line . . they are too irresistable to pass up.
Rick, I guess anything is justifiable. I never thought that O/W switchers operated in Chaffee, but I think Tim Cannon's website has a photo ofSW-9 #305 working in the 1970s in front of the old passenger depot. I say go for it. Best Regards,
I am pleased to report that units 276 and 281 logged in their first 3 hours of continuous service on the Northern Division last night. Their crews reported no problems with the switchers and both reported pulling train lengths in excess of 20 cars with no wheel slippage. Testing will continue through November and December when we will see how cold weather affects these new units. Sound levels may be adjusted depending upon the cold weather results. In a related note, Engineer McKeighan ran SLSF 4001 to Springfield with a short train of 22 cars and reported no problems. 0-6-0 #3803 has been reassigned to local switching duty including the Fairgrounds Branch. All units on the Northern Division are classified as "in-service."
A great time was - indeed - had last night on Rick's layout. It was like being a kid again in a candy store! It's been a while since I've run any model trains - we're talking back in the "transformer days". Wow, live sound, bell, and whistle - how cool it was! I think my feet are touching the earth again. Rick's layout is awesome, and he's a wonderful host. We're lucky to have him in the group. Bob McKeighan Lenexa, KS
Rick - Glad to hear your two b/y H10-44's SLSF 276 and 281 are performing well and are in service. Singer sewing machines on rails! I'm still having trouble with mine - SLSF 275. It's not supposed to have sound (!), but it emits a growl when running forward, less so when running cab first. I'm working with the "shop" (Walthers), and we have it quieted down a bit, but it still makes too much noise. I'm waiting to hear back from my Walthers contact - I might send the chassis back for a replacement. You are right about the body shell - they did a terrific job on it. Pure Frisco b/y! I wonder if Walthers will sell me one of the F-M plates for the nose of my Walthers (released ten years ago) H12-44 I'm working on now? Ken
Rick, I am looking forward to coming up there in December. Glad to here about 4001's trip. that tells me you got the track though lamar laid, well at least the main. Have you started on any other part of lamar? When I come up for the op session I can give you some more info that would be hard to explain if not talking in person in front of the lamar area on the layout.
Bob, It was great to meet another local Frisco fan at Rick's operating session. The Kansas City group keeps enlarging with 3 new local Frisco folks friends just this year! I can attest to the fact that Bob did in fact have a great time at Rick's operating session. I was a pilot on his last train. It was powered by steam with sound and you could see the joy he was having sounding the whistle at each grade crossing. I believe that with Bob we have also set the hook for operations. December will be another good month as we are looking forward to Ethan's visit. Operating with him should be a blast. Hopefully we can even work in a trip to Rosedale Bar-B-Que to get him and his parents properly introduced to the area. We all need to work with more youth to help keep the hobby, and the Frisco, going in the future. Next year will be the 30th anniversary of the Frisco merger. We are now two generations removed from people with first hand memory of our favorite railroad. Hope this helps. Thanks! Mark
I share Mark's interest in young people, as I found out the other night that he and I are both Boy Scout Leaders. Working with young folks and a love of trains is something that my Aunt, a gifted and caring school Teacher, instilled in me as a little boy. We went on many little train excursions while the local railroads were still running passenger trains. I grew up in one of the largest school districts in Kansas. At that time, the schools were large - particularly the highschools. It's easy to get lost in the crowd - as I did - too short and too slow for sports, not smart enough for Debate team, etc. Ah - but I did have the new issue of MR to look forward to and found some friends who shared my interest - what a blessing! I was fortunate enough to meet Stagner, Buffington, Gibson, Winters, and others. They were asked a lot of questions, and were always ready to accomodate with answers and more. As we all move up a seat, toward the front of the bus to get off life's journey, as Mark pointed out - it's now on us to be the providers of enthusiasm, information, and friendship to those just entering our hobby. At the recent meet in Pittsburg, it was good to see some younger people present, enjoying themselves and the hobby. Ethan - I share everyone's excitement in having you up here and having fun! It's truly a joy to see your contributions on this site and witness your Frisco-journey. Take care - Bob
yes you are. The posts I have read below have made me feel a lot better about coming up there. The way names work for me is it takes me a few times to get them down, but then I remember them for a long time. I know Rick from Convention and I probably talked to some others that I can't remember, but we'll get to know each other.
OK back to the FM H10-44s. Here are a few photos of my pair of units. Wish I could send the sound along too. It's pretty good.
One of my favorite attributes of these things (nowadays) is that I simply pulled it out of the box, changed the channel number to the road number (takes about 30 secs) and sat it on the track and ran it. No muss, no fuss. The downside is that I have to eat peanut butter sandwiches for the next month (or two). But they are worth every sticky bite.
Nice, Rick. Tell your hogger to watch out on that 281 - he's about to go on the ground! I think the Walthers P2k b/y H10-44 is equal to the Athearn Genesis F3's as the best decorated out-of-the-box Frisco units there are in HO. We need more stuff like this - it's time for Atlas to answer now with a well done Frisco S-2 with the correct Roman lettering font! What detail parts are you going to hang on it? I haven't done anything to my SLSF 275 yet as I am still trying to quiet the drive down. With Walthers' help, we are 95% of the way there (it turns out the rear truck drive tower was dry). Are you going to use the Walthers stacks or hang spark arrestors on it? Horn? I'm wondering what to do about a roof beacon as well. Ken
Rick, they look pretty good gracing the environs of 19th Street and Rosedale! Nice, nice looking models (for diesels, I reckon). Best Regards,
Nice units Rick. Looks like you used some of that smoke and mirros stuff that you told us about back at convention when you took the picture of 281.
