Vitrains 37's and 47's

[Wummyock]

Hello just wondered what the Vitrain 37's and 47's are like haulage wise compared to Bachmann's and Heljan's locos?Do the Vitrains have traction tyres?Thanks for any replies to the question.

[SRman]

My early issue ViTrains 37 has traction tyres but I believe they discontinued the practice of putting traction tyres on subsequent production batches. While I have not tested either the 37 or the 47 to find their haulage limits, I would rate them as close to or equal to the Bachmann or Heljan locos - Heljan have a little more weight so probably pull slightly more but, unless you have a very large layout, I don't think you'll be too worried by the differences.

[Gwiwer]

For a layout of average size the ViTrains models have ample "grunt". Earlier releases had traction tyres on one wheel per bogie which seems to make little difference to their ability to haul decent trains.

 

Being fortunate to posess a larger-than-average layout with a 35-metre circuit I can run longer trains of prototypical length and test locos for haulage accordingly.

 

My ViTrains 37 will happily start 16 Mk1 bogies (or the equivalent) on level straight track but taking them around curves it starts to slip with more than 10 on. The 47 will manage 14 and 9 in the same tests and has once lost its coupler due to the weight on the drawbar.

 

Other than that they are competent locos (though the build quality is some way short of other brands) and are a good match for Bachmann in terms of haulage. I find on the whole that Heljan with their greater weight will pull far more - 25 Mk1 coaches is the most I can usually manage before they get dragged off by their own weight.