I just removed these from the layout – I wanted to love these cars, but in the end I got too frustrated with them to keep them on the line.
While the layout isn’t necessarily intended to model the New York Tri-State area, it’s also very hard to find anything in N Scale other than New Jersey Transit that’s from the New York commuter services. Having grown up in the region I’ve got a soft spot for anything that used to run there. So I think it’s a shame that even though there’s a lot of commuter rail in the region and there are quite a few folks who model parts of the North East Corridor the options are still pretty slim for anything other than Amtrak. So when a manufacturer releases models of New York commuter service I’m always interested.
I also picked up the Rapido FL9 in MetroNorth markings, Trainworld had the 5020 on sale for a few months so when I had the cash I grabbed it. It was great to get a MetroNorth engine but once I did I didn’t have anything to run behind it until Rapido’s Comets started shipping.
As you can see both the Comets and the FL9 are beautifully detailed models. The Comets are fully lit, with not just interior lighting but also red marker lights on the passenger cars. The Comet Cabs also have directional lighting, although it’s not automatic, which is controlled by their “magic wand.” By the way, those lights don’t flicker as they ride around the layout. They provide a nice constant glow all the way around. Rapido takes pride in their detailing especially on the underbody and in parts of their trains that you can’t see particularly well. As a result it all looks fantastic.
Unfortunately, after trying to run these on the layout I’ve come to the conclusion that Rapido builds divas… They look fantastic, but they only want to perform in conditions that suit them.
First, I admit Rapido is very open that the Comets run best on corners with an 11 inch radius or larger. The issue isn’t that the trucks can’t handle tighter turns – they can… It’s that the body mounted short shank couplers definitely can’t handle a tighter radius. On the Centreville Railroad, with the short shank couplers they seem to handle every corner but one – the one just outside the West Station near the West Yard Entrance on the outside track. I replaced the couplers on every Comet and the one at the rear of the FL9, and they seem to be running better here… But then they started derailing on the longer curve a little bit further along just before going under the Big Bridge. So it seems that for reliable operations I need to keep them on the other track where the curves are a touch wider.
I’ve heard folks say that their Comets roll almost as freely as pretty much any rolling stock they own – but not mine. The best way to describe them is that they’re stiff… So stiff that I can park them on any incline on the layout and they don’t move. Any other car I have will roll off on the slightest incline, but not these. This isn’t really a problem for almost every locomotive I have, they all have enough torque that they can overcome the friction and pull a 4 car consist of the MetroNorth Coach and Cab and the CDOT Coach and Cab across the entire layout and up both inclines without trouble… That is, every locomotive but three of them – the SW7 and the NW2 which isn’t a surprise because they’re small switchers, but critically the FL9 can’t pull more than 2 cars up the inclines on the layout. Since the FL9 is the one locomotive on the entire layout that these cars are supposed to be behind – this is a problem.
I’ve checked the wheel gauge, and it appears to be good. I’ve picked up some silicone powdered lube and squirted it as best as I could into the trucks and they’re still extremely stiff. At some point I might pair the FL9 with my Kato New York Central EMD E9 to pull the whole thing around as a “heritage run” but in the mean time, the FL9 is parked up in the West Yard with the Bachmann HHP-8 and the Comets have moved into off layout storage. Given the cost of those Comets and how they look I’m extremely disappointed that they’re now in storage – but I’ve got too many other passenger cars that look good and run well to have to put up with divas…