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OTW's - The "Of The Week" Series

Locomotive of the Week (LOTW)

LOTW - Jan 20 - Jan 26, 2008

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romcat
Big Boy

Status: offline

Posted - January 22 2008 : 01:20:59 AM

Hey Guys:

This of all my locomotives, is my Favourite:

It is the only piece I have left from my youth. I bought it in 1972 I think it was for $25. I still have the original box as well.

Last year the chassis went off to Ron LaFever in Paris, Texas for a rebuild and upgrade. The improvements include:

CHASSIS CONFIGURED TO YEAR 2001 SPEC'S. DRILLED/MILLED FOR HARDWIRING. (MDC had upgraded)

REGEARED WITH STOCK MDC GEARS.

ALL PARTS SMOOTHED AND POLISHED. PRECISION ASSEMBLED.

GEAR HOUSING SHAVED FOR CLEARANCE OF 321 MAGNETS, ROAD CROSSINGS, ETC.

ENGINEERING PLASTIC PROBLEM RESOLVED.

HIGH-TORQUE CAN MOTOR INSTALLED, MOTOR IS BRUSHLESS, SELF-LUB'D FOR LIFE.

MOTOR ISOLATED FROM FRAME - DCC COMPATABLE. A DECODER SHELF IS PROVIDED.

CUSTOM NWSL PRECISION BRASS FLYWHEEL INSTALLED.

NWSL #29 GAUGE (51 STRAND) SUPER FLEX STRANDED WIRE USED TO PROVIDE EIGHT- WHEEL POSITIVE VOLTAGE PICKUP.

EXTRA WIRE-LENGTH IS PROVIDED TO EASE MAINTENANCE AND LUBRICATION - EXTRA WIRE LENGTH TAPED TO MOTOR

JACKSHAFT WORM GEAR DIAMETER OF .310, .005 ABOVE MDC MINIMUM SPECS, FOR POSITIVE EIGHT WHEEL DRIVE.

BACKLASH IN BOTH TRUCKS EQUALIZED TO MAINTAIN FIRM CONTACT WITH AXLE GEARS

CHASSIS WILL CRAWL THROUGH PLASTIC FROG TURNOUTS AT LESS THAN 0.3 SCALE MPH.

TWO-OUNCE + TOTAL WEIGHT ADDED - (1.25 OZ ON CHASSIS, .75 ON SHELL) 25.O % TOTAL INCREASE. WEIGHT DISTRIBUTION CENTERED OVER BOTH TRUCKS.

KAYDEE #58 TRUE SCALE MAGNETIC COUPLERS INSTALLED

TWO YEAR GUARANTEE

Mine was the last one Ron LaFever built! He's now retired.

****LAFEVER CLIMAX REVIEW****

5 July, 2002 LAFEVER STANDARD CLIMAX PRODUCT REVIEW
"AUSTINS DAD'S Toys and trains", Roger Edison owner.
Member: Gulf Coast Society of model Railroaders, NMRA.
Product review - the LaFever Climax, custom made by Ron LaFever.

Ron sent me a sample of his MDC Climax for testing. It is a custom built die cast frame with modified motoring, gearing and body shell THAT WILL EXCEED the performance of almost any other logging locomotive available. Ron's complete Climax weighs almost 2-ounces more than a stock MDC Climax - an almost 25% weight increase, yet with room for a DCC decoder and a sound card.

I like Ron's work. It is well done. But then, Ron holds a degree in both Mechanical and Electrical Engineering so you expect great work. Using a Tech II transformer power supply I watched it run smooth at every level of speed. Surprising to me, when I had the power pack set at 10% I could count the lines on the flywheel turning about 9 lines per minute - which means that sometime tomorrow this might complete it's way around the track. It was moving so very, very slow.
At 25% on the power pack it moved in a slow, realistic, smooth and quiet way. However, at 50% - where a Bachman three-truck Shay, Rivarossi's Heisler and MDC Shays reach their maximum speed - Ron's Climax continued to go faster and much stronger than the stock or Brass locomotives previously tested. The throttle response is very linear.

I don't need a stop watch and chart to know that the motoring and re-gearing is much more than an improvement, but makes this climax a true dream when it comes to climbing hills with 25 log cars which are slightly weighted over NMRA standards. The incline grade was remarkable as I tilted the layout with blocks. The Climax continued to pull superbly, but didn't go running off when it reached the top. Testing showed it handled 18-inch curves easily, yet I bet it could handle tighter curves.

All the plus marks this loco received out weighed the one black mark of noise at higher speeds. At slow speeds there is no sound problem. If the noise at higher speeds bothers some one they should add a MRC sound system to their layout to cover any unwanted noise.

This is a great engine, a superb-operating piece of equipment. This custom engine easily handled over 25 logging cars climbing over a 6% incline - exceeding the utmost steepest mountains expected on just about any layout. In appearance it shows superior weathering skills and added detail parts to the modified MDC Climax body.
Fine Brass engines meeting this custom quality exceed $300, which makes Ron's Climax a bargain. It will likely be the best performing locomotive you'll ever own for your logging, maintenance-of-way or old time yard switching. This performance test clearly showed it will out perform the Bachman (3) truck Shay, MDC Climax and shay products and PFM Brass Shays that have ever been previously tested by Austindad''s.

NOTE: Ron will not get his sample back - I bought it.

July 13, 2002
Ron - today I operated the LaFever Climax at 30% throttle for 7 non-stop hours. It was pulling a total of 27 log cars along a 46' x 12' track with only a 1% incline. It operated smoothly with perfect operation with no problems. After 7 hours of continuous running the motor was barely warm to the touch. I'm extremely pleased. Roger Edison

Hope you enjoyed this.

Post away....

Edited by - romcat on January 24 2008 03:07:44 AM

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