We have been discussing this on OGR S Scale board over the past week and I
believe this information should be shared, if only to eliminate surprises and
new information is better than no information.
The SD70ACe's will have twin vertical motor drive and not the drive developed
for the U33C.
Now, before we go off on all sorts of tangents again, Lionel's Chief Technology
Officer offered his explanation today:
"We debated the drive system for some time internally, and simply could not get
the features into the loco with a motor in a horizontal position. As a point
of reference, the U33 was way late and the delays were due to the drive system.
The electronics and motors would not work without burning up. I designed a
completely new motor drive circuit for the U33, and by luck (and some long
days) we made the U33 shipment last year. It almost was placed on indefinite
hold due to the motor burning up problem that seemed to be unsolvable.
If we could locate a horizontal motor in the shell area(not fuel tank), many of
the problems we had with the U33 would have not appeared. We have U-Joints in
the U33 that take very sharp angles; and I had to run the loco (code tweak)
much faster than I would have liked to keep it running smooth. The Vertical
motors will solve this for us by allowing the drive chain to have higher gear
ratios and nicer low speed control. And, we get to add the functionality we
think folks want with the extra space. I have tried to get the DCC connector
spec'd in so that the TMCC electronics can be easily swapped out with DCC
decoders; still working that crusade. Our hope is that we can meet schedules
and deliver a smooth running, great sounding, nice looking loco.
If folks are willing to let go of features, say smoke, perhaps sound, we could
reconsider motor position in future products. Folks, post your replies as to
what the loco needs to have in the feature realm, and if there is any common
theme, it may help us deliver a product closer to your expectations.
Jon, CTO Lionel LLC."
There is also this little tidbit from Jon:
"I requested a gear ratio change for this loco when we started the design
process a few months back! The U33 is 10.5:1; I expect at least 15:1 on this
product."
Bear in mind that Lionel is not AM, SHS or SSA. They have their own
proprietary electronics sound and control that they are justifiably proud of
and will design their products accordingly. They are also making
accommodations to the Flyer line in order to attract S Scale folks that they
haven't done to the O Gauge line to attract O Scalers.
I would suggest that if you have suggestions on how to make Scale Flyer more
attractive to the S Scaler, contact Lionel with a friendly letter or e-mail. S
Scale is uncharted waters for Lionel and they are willing to listen.
Rich G(ajnak)
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