If I recall correctly, the only AM locomotive equipped with drive coupling pen-springs was the GP35. They seem to work OK, but I've never really loaded down the 35's, nor do I intend to.
I seem to also recall a great wailing and gnashing of teeth when the GP35's came out because of the pen-spring couplings. All the other AM locomotive I have, both new and old, have the good old ball and socket drive couplings. For decades, the ball and socket couplings (or variations there of) are pretty much used in all of the scales using horizontal drives. Even Athearn used a ball and socket variant to connect the drive shafts to the motor of their Hi-F(rubberband) drive RDC's. That should indicate something. One of the biggest failings of my long gone Sunset Challenger was the neoprene tubing between the motor and the rear engine, which was apparently used because the motor and worm shafts were not the same diameter. This is not to say the ball and socket won't fail, some have occasionally. But there is a proven track record for reliability with the ball and socket. Pen-spring and neoprene tubing for couplings are so 1950's. Why take a step backwards? Rich G(ajnak) --- In [email protected], "Ed" <Loizeaux@...> wrote: > > > > Are U-joint drives preferred over the pen springs > > > Will Quinn > > > Why not just experiment with the AM pen springs and the ball/socket > > connectors (NWSL) and see which provides the best performance? > > Matt Hogan > > > If you really want to seriously compare the two, I would suggest a test drive > with a heavily loaded train being pulled up a grade. Lots of cars or fewer > hopper/gondola cars filled with sand. With a heavy load, the differences > between the two will become quite apparent. Running the loco by itself or > with a light load will not necessarily illustrate any difference at all. Let > us know what you discover. Ed Loizeaux > ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
