MTH GP20 loco in O gauge

[paulbb]

Described by a reviewer as an ideal entry into O gauge, there was however no information on its running qualities and what minimum radius curves that it needs. Has anyone had any experience of this loco? Its rather basic around the edges; handrails and air brake pipes etc are moulded rather than separately applied. One example has been seen for sale at £200, which seems a budget price, until you realise that the Dapol class 08 shunter in O gauge is around this price and is much more detailed.

[F-UnitMad]

Do you have a link?

Edit:- found it, on Ebay, & the Seller's review on YouTube.

It is 2-rail, but with a lot of 3-rail 'legacy' such as molded details, short corner handrails and a massive gap where the pilot (buffer beam) should be. On the YouTube review a glimpse of the box end has details on it & it says "operates on 72" radius", which seems odd as a lot of Atlas locos such as Geeps like this have a min. radius of 36", which does work - I use 36" curves to shoehorn my layout into 17ft x 8ft!! You can see in the review the trucks (not 'bogies'!!) turn much tighter than required for a 6ft curve.

Screenshot of the paused video....

 

I've never seen an MTH loco myself so can't comment on it's running qualities.

Let's just say I'm watching it on ebay out of interest but it would have to be £100 to tempt me. I'd be interested to know how much he paid for it!! 🤔😉

Edited April 2 by F-UnitMad

[sncf231e]

MTH made the GP20 also in 2-rail, but almost 30 year ago, so I do not know how it compares to recent products.

https://mthtrains.com/20-2140-2

Regards

Fred

[jasond]

I wouldn't buy an old MTH diesel without seeing it or a good selection of pics.  They were forced to upgrade models bit-by-bit by the quality of the Atlas offerings.  Fred's MTH catalogue entry is a 3-rail model and as well as the list of what's moulded on I'd like to measure the truck wheelbase - looked a bit short to me and the same design would be on the 2-rail version and it's gearing was for 3-railers.  If price, not choice of prototype is more important (just the immense satisfaction of O-scale 😎) I'd go for an older Weaver 2-rail GP38-2 or Alco RS3.

 

Jason

[jjb1970]

The thing that has always put me off many NA outline O gauge models is the pilot arrangement where it is often part of the bogie. Some models look pretty decent then I notice that and it just destroys the illusion a model tries to create. Atlas O was much better, or the likes of Overland if you have deeper pockets however that segment always seems to be on the fringes as the market prefers the Lionel style of model.

[jasond]

Luckily here in the UK, no model train manufacturer had such O-power as Lionel did/does in the US.  Hornby might have, they even stuck with 3-rail when they went to OO!  Triang, bless 'em, discovered plastic for their train sets and answered the question "how do you save money by doing away with that middle rail and make it look more realistic with plastic moulding?"  Or was it the other way round?

 

I was only aware of one Lionel retailer over here ... long gone.  Anyway Atlas have forced the US RTR market to take 'O-scale'' more seriously than 'O-gauge', still occasionally a clue as to what you're buying, but even they've had to admit 3-rail was a marketing triumph, not a modelling win ... OK, OK I've got some 3-rail stock with 2-rail wheels and KDs

 

Jason

[F-UnitMad]

9 hours ago, jasond said:

OK, OK I've got some 3-rail stock with 2-rail wheels and KDs

So have I. The trick is finding out what 3-rail rolling stock is to scale dimensions, & worth converting.

Locos, I just wouldn't bother - closest I've come to that is my Atlas SW1200 which was 2-rail but the electrical gubbins were "TMCC" - no idea what that means, some 3-rail witchcraft no doubt - it all got stripped out & it now runs on an HO Soundtrax Tsunami decoder.