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 Posted - December 15 2008 : 6:51:49 PM
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For your viewing pleasure, I found copies of the origional patents for Mantua/Tyco locos on the 'net (PDF files):
1) Power-Tourque (with a pretty-good exploded view) -
http://www.pat2pdf.org/patents/pat3918198.pdf
2) Mantua Power Truck -
http://www.pat2pdf.org/patents/pat3009425.pdf
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Posted - May 12 2009 : 5:00:00 PM
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Interesting, Thanks.
Alco Fan
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Posted - December 29 2009 : 9:00:08 PM
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Isn't it interesting that in the summary section of thePower Torque Truck patent it is stated that the main purpose of the the PT design was to cut labor and component costs (row 1, lines 17-22). I would say the designers succeeded spectacularly on this point. However the design fails miserably in regards to "a long useful life, with a minimum of downtime for repairs" (row 1, lines 27-28).
We all know that the PT truck leaves a lot to be desired in terms of reliability and durability, its just fascinating to see the justification for the design's faults spelled out in "leagalize".
Proudly keeping Tyco Pluggers out of landfills since 2016
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Posted - December 29 2009 : 9:36:00 PM
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I think the power torque would be better if it simply had a stronger winding on the armature. The next weak point is the pinion gear. I wouldn't think that improving either of those things would have significantly driven up production costs by much. I could live with other short comings like power pick up and only one powered truck. After the change over from the MU2 the trains survived nearly two decades.
Today it would be easier to re-engineer to a better drive train and chassis like what Mehano used in the replacement Alcos if you they wanted to continue making trains.
Alco Fan
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