N Scale Whitcomb Diesel
It's not often I come across a locomotive model for N Scale that I absolutely have to have. Though it does seem to be happening more and more often 😄. But in this case, when a random google search for "N Scale Whitcomb Diesel" actually turned up a product announcement by Piko for a USATC 65 ton Whitcomb, I knew I had to have it.
A Really Roundabout Story
As it tends to be the case with me, I gravitate towards obscure, rare or unusual locomotives for one reason or another. That I am a modeler of the New York City area in the 80's makes things all the more complicated since most of this prototype is comprised of second or even third hand Alco's among other modified loco models I know next to nothing about. Add to that most of the locomotives used had to be modified to work around third rail locations and within the subway itself. And to make things more complicated still, there's not many models in N Scale that even can begin to represent the hodgepodge of equipment used in and around New York City.
So, as I learn more about the protype that I chose to model, I find myself searching Google and eBay frequently just to see if anyone has ever made any of the engines I need for my NYCH layout. Or even just kit bashed a shell. Literally anything at all.
So on a random, cold, miserable February day at my old job I stumbled upon Piko's product announcement for a 65 ton Whitcomb IN N SCALE! I literally couldn't believe it and immediately signed up for their newsletter to let me know when they'd be available for preorder or regular order.
The significance of this engine is a little strange, even for me. I'm modelling the New York Cross Harbor railroad, which operated at Bush Terminal in Brooklyn. Getting into the history of how it came to be and all of that is a bit complicated but the thing to know here is that the NYCH interchanged with the South Brooklyn Railroad just to the north of Bush Terminal at 39th St.
The SBK (those were its reporting marks) operated from 39th St., east and south to Coney Island along McDonald Ave at grade. Up until the 70's there was quite a bit of local switching to be done along this corridor. The SBK had two interchanges; one with the NYCH at 39th St/Bush Junction where they would receive new subway cars for the subway system, and another with Conrail/PC/LIRR somewhere around McDonald Ave and Avenue I (its nearly impossible to tell where this was located using modern google earth views). The interchange with Conrail ended sometime in the 70's I believe (maybe early 80's) which left 39th street as the only location for interchange. Freight operations to Coney Island didn't last much longer anyway.
Among an assortment of modified 65 & 70 ton switchers were two 65 ton Whitcombs. The history of these loco's is a little confusing as there were actually three Whitcombs that worked the SBK at different times, two of which both shared the same number. Number 9. The SBK's other Whitcomb was #8.
From my understanding, #9 mostly worked around the 39th street interchange with the NJCH and around the 38th street yard now owned by the MTA. I'm not sure when the branch down McDonald was officially cut back (assuming the early 80's), but there's very little trace of its existence today. Once service ended there, there wasn't much use for #9 and it was retired.
Here's where it gets interesting. #9 was sold to the Trolley Museum of New York, which is located in Kingston, NY, 90 miles north. My home town! And a museum my Dad would take my brother and I to routinely. So I actually grew up looking at a piece of Brooklyn history right at home and didn't even know it until I was in my late 30's. I have vivid memories of #9 parked at the museum when I was a kid. It was painted blue instead of the yellow scheme the SBK had it in. I remember thinking it was such a strange looking engine. I had never seen anything like it anywhere and to this day that's the only place I've seen one working in person. (I learned later the WKS has one as well which might be #8).
So that's a really roundabout way to explain why I just had to have this thing when I saw its release. Not to mention how utterly rare it is for any manufacturer to make something in N that isn't super mainstream.
Let's Talk About The Model Itself
Now, I'm not really the right person to ask for a proper review of a loco, or any model for that matter. For me, as long as it looks right and works well, it's a good model. Something has to be really off for me to notice.
But I will say, this model is really nice. The quality of the build is solid and the details are pretty amazing. It's got great weight for N; not too light and not too heavy. All the rails and stirrups and the like don't feel over sized and are well proportioned for N Scale. There's even a set of marker lights on each end that change colors based on the direction of travel. How cool!
This model is also equipped with a DCC sound decoder. The quality of the sound is also really impressive BUT there seems to be some irregularities with the decoder. The idle engine sound just continues to play when the loco speeds up or slows down and only plays the engine throttle sounds when I press the associated function key. The other strange thing is that the headlights and marker lights will turn off automatically after a few seconds. They'll remain on if I being to drive the loco but turn off almost immediately after the loco stops. It's kind of annoying since the only way to tell which direction this thing is headed is to look at the headlight or marker lights. Pressing the headlight button again only turns them off on the controller display and I have to hit it one more time to get them back on. This might be an issue with how I'm using the DCC decoder but the address and all the settings are factory set. So I'm a bit at a loss there.
One thing I really like about this loco in terms of its functionality is that it seems to have a keep alive capacitor in it or something similar. My layout wiring is not the best and most of my turnouts are garbage, especially the ones in the street, but this loco moves really smoothly over all the known dead zones. I'm actually really impressed with how smooth it operates overall. It also has built in momentum which I find really neat. I wish both of those features were more common among N Scale loco's.
The loco came painted in US Army Transportation black with white lettering which is really nice. I love the quality of the paint job even though it's pretty simple and would be hard to mess up. I do wish they had an unpainted version since I'd like to paint this into SBK yellow without have to strip it (maybe they'll sell me an unpainted shell?). I also have no idea how I'm going to successfully strip the paint of this thing considering all the small details like the marker lights, ladders, horns and such that adorn the model. Maybe one of you guys will have a good answer for me 😏
Regardless of the DCC issues, the loco operates really, really nicely and has great detail. I love that the factory wheels are even designed to run on N Scale code 40 track which allows it to run on my code 55 track without issue.
I have video of the unit in action but Patreon for some reason will not allow me to share it here 🤷♂️