2-8-8-8-2 Triplex Steam Engine w/Proto-Sound 3E+ – Erie (Black) Cab No. THIS ITEM IS BRAND NEW. This product is compatible with stud rail 3-Rail HO track including those systems offered by Marklin.. Barnum would have loved the Triplex. It was an engine of superlatives: more drivers than anything before or since, too big for the shops of its owner, the Erie Railroad, powerful enough to pull a train nearly five miles long. Ninety years ago, in the days before multiple-unit control allowed one throttle to control several locomotives, the Triplex was the ultimate attempt to put as much power as possible in the hands of a single engineer. In the end, it proved a noble, flamboyant, but less-than-successful experiment. Baldwin Locomotive Works built three triplexes between 1914 and 1916 for pusher service on the Erie Railroad’s daunting Susquehanna Hill (also known as Gulf Summit) near Deposit, N. The cylinders of the Triplex’s middle engine were powered by high pressure steam direct from the boiler, while the front and rear engines used low pressure steam exhausted from the middle cylinders. Each triplex replaced three ordinary helper engines, and the new locomotives worked well enough to stay on the Erie roster for more than a decade. But the design proved a bit over the top and only one more Triplex was ever built, for the Virginian Railway. Even with their huge boilers, the locomotives could only make enough steam to go 10 mph. One reason was poor draft in the firebox, because only the front cylinders exhausted through the smokebox and created draft; the rear cylinders exhausted through a separate smokestack on the tender. Another inherent problem with the design was that traction from the rear engine decreased as the boiler used coal and water and the tender got lighter. Triplex recreates the flamboyance of the original design but runs much better than the prototype ever did. Only MTH engineering could make such a complex model run smoothly and steadily at speeds from a barely perceptible crawl to wide-open throttle – just ask any modeler who owns an M. O scale or One Gauge Triplex. For 2007 the Triplex debuts in our HO lineup, complete with a full range of engine sounds, puffing smoke, speed control, full Rule 17 lighting, and ready to run under conventional, DCC, or M. Digital Command System (DCS) control. The Triplex was engineered to haul 640 fifty-ton cars in a train almost five miles long. But the couplers and draft gear of the early twentieth century could not have handled such a load, so the 2-8-8-8-2 was used as a pusher and never put to a full test. Outfitted with NEM 311 wheels and NEM 365 couplers, each of these engines feature an all-new version of Proto-Sound 3.0, contain a third rail sliding shoe for use with Marklin HO stud rail and can operate on AC or DC power. Like their 3.0 counterparts, Proto-Sound 3E+ locomotives feature full digital sound, speed control, 28 DCC functions, hundreds of DCS sounds and features and a command control receiver for use with Marklin DCC control systems. Unlike their 3.0 counterparts, Proto-Sound 3E+ locomotives cannot operate on standard 2-rail track. They only operate on HO (3-Rail) Stud Rail track (ie: Marklin C or K track). Die-Cast Boiler and Tender Body. Authentic Paint Scheme & Cab Numbers. Operating Lighted Marker Lights. Prototypical Rule 17 Lighting. Powerful Balanced 12-Volt 5-Pole Precision Skewed Flywheel Equipped Motor. (2) Kadee Compatible Scale Couplers. Metal Handrails and Decorative Bell. Synchronized Puffing ProtoSmoker System. Locomotive Speed Control In Scale MPH Increments. Locomotive Cab To Tender Deck Plate. Engineer and Fireman Figures. Interchangeable Traction Tire-Equipped Drive Wheels. Operates On Code 70, 83, & 100 Rail Curves. NEM 340 1.2mm Metal Flange Wheels Mounted On Metal Axles. (2) NEM 360 Operating Couplers. Proto-Sound 3.0 equipped locomotives can be controlled in command mode with any DCC compliant command control system. While the user won’t have access to all of the incredible features of Proto-Sound 3.0, independent control over the locomotive is possible. This means you can continue to use your existing DCC controller to independently control your other DCC equipped locomotives in addition to your Proto-Sound 3.0 locomotive on the same track at the same time. When using a DCC controller, the following Proto-Sound 3.0 locomotive features are accessible. (F4) PFA initiate and advance. (F5) Cab Light on/off. (F6) Engine Sounds on/off. (F7) Volume low, med, high, off. (F9) Forward Signal Sound. (F10) Reverse Signal Sound. (F11) Coupler Slack Sound. (F13) One-Shot Doppler on/off. (F14) Extended Start Up. (F15) Extended Shut Down. (F18) Smoke Volume low, med, high. (F19) Single short whistle toot. (F22) Idle Sequence 1. (F23) Idle Sequence 2. (F24) Idle Sequence 3. (F25) Idle Sequence 4. (F27) Cab Chatter auto/off. Unit Measures:18 5/8″ x 1 1/2″ x 2 5/16. Only Operates On HO (3-rail) Stud Track (ie: Marklin C or K Track). Operates On R3 (515mm) Radius Curves. The item “MTH 80-3199-5, HO Scale, 2-8-8-8-2 Triplex Steam Engine withProto-Sound 3E+ Erie” is in sale since Wednesday, April 24, 2019. This item is in the category “Toys & Hobbies\Model Railroads & Trains\HO Scale\Locomotives”. The seller is “vztech” and is located in Taunton, Massachusetts. This item can be shipped worldwide.
- Gender: Boys & Girls
- State of Assembly: Ready to Go/Pre-built
- Type: Steam Locomotive
- Features: Light Function
- MPN: 80-3199-5
- Gauge: HO Scale
- Train Operating Company: Erie
- Brand: MTH
- Grading: C-10 Mint-Brand New
- Control: Digital or Analog