Right! And even though those were modern freight cars (hopper cars I believe), empty, and have roller bearing axles it shows just how good those Decapods were. A 135 car pull is nothing to sneeze at! And those Illinois Railroad Museum guys crewing that Frisco Decapod sure know how to get the best out of it!
I ran her a few years at IRM back in the 70s. Long piston stroke, small drivers and light axle loading makes her quite slippery. I learned to just give it a sniff of steam by quickly opening and closing the throttle on start up to load the dry pipe and then very gently lengthening it out. Above 30 mph it was possible to run the valve quadrant within about 5 notches of center really saving the firemans' back.
Got to see the back side of the amusement park as the engine passed by. Though the color might not have matched, the lighter color shows off the black rails and other details. Enjoy
Would like to see SAL 544 restored to working order, but if I remember correctly I've heard people talking about how she's got a major split in her engine bed that makes that next to impossible.
@@mslickstrains Agreed, but they do have other problems on occasion. At any rate no two manufacturers can agree on prototype colors to begin with, unless it's black! Anyway, it's a bit of a mistake in my opinion to call outfits like Lionel, MTH, Atlas, and others "manufacturers," they're not, strictly speaking they're importers. They don't "make" anything.
Lionel should be like MTH and do one Whistle which is the Whistle that actually goes with the Engine. I almost got one of these. But I'm glad I paid the extra Money for Strasburg 90 instead. I'm not a fan of tethers either. Over all its still a very nice Engine. If I could find an MTH Proto 3.0 Decapod I'm definitely going after it. I recently got Outbid on one. But I will keep looking for a Western Maryland.
I can't help but wonder just how much the changeable whistle and bell sounds adds to the cost of the engine. The sophisticated electronics are expensive enough as it is. And honestly I find the "cab crew to dispatcher" talk a bit off-putting. That's radio talk and steam engines didn't have radios, at least not in the era these engines operated. Some back-and-forth between the engineer and fireman like MTH does would make a lot more sense. Maybe even the two discussing the baseball scores they read in the morning paper!
@wayneantoniazzi2706 I agree. I dislike the Cab to Tower Talk also. Engineer and and Helper talking over things like Baseball Scores And what's for Lunch would be really cool and way more realistic for Steam Engines. And OH YES, those dreadful added expenses most of us could do without.
Hi Sean, I too received my decapod. I bought the USA version. It runs great on my fast track. I too, was skeptical of the tether, but it works and looks great.
It's a plus to see a train one might be interested in purchasing. The colors, details and sounds etc. It helps with decision making. Well done Sean ! ✌️
Fine video Sean! Just a little bit of history which everyone might find interesting. Just so everyone knows, "decapod" is the Greek word for "ten-footed." When the first decapods made their appearance in the 19th Century the classically educated men running the railroads, or a least one of them, applied the name decapod to one of those ten-drivered locomotives and the name stuck! Oh, many American railroaders called the Russian Decapods "Bolsheviks!" That name stuck as well! That Lionel model's a fine representation of an Erie Decapod, the Erie was the majority owner with 75 of them having bought them at rock-bottom prices. I'm not sure if the Erie Deks were rough riders like the Pennsy ones were, the PRR "Hippos" were notoriously rough rides. From what I've read the Erie Deks were pretty popular with the crews. That blue-grey color of the boiler's pretty sharp, but I'm not so sure it's authentic. Some of the last Erie Deks made their way to the Susquehanna and were photographed in color and the boilers were black. It hardly matters, maybe the Erie's Deks started out blue-grey and eventually were painted black? Who knows? I've never seen any photos of the Russian Deks purchased by American 'roads with the Russian style railing on the walkways, although the American made ones for export certainly had them. Those high railings made perfect sense on the Russian engines, they were a safety feature to keep Russian train crews from slipping off icy walkways. It doesn't mean the Deks purchased by the Americans didn't start out that way but I don't think the railings lasted too long in American service. And to my knowledge there's six Russian Decapods that survive today at various rail museums around the country, a former Frisco Decapod is operational at the Illinois Railroad Museum. You can see it on some UA-cam videos! Decapods may not have caught on here in a big way but they sure were cool!
@@seanstraindepot You're welcome Sean! All of the above comes from off my bookshelf and you're right, many times on-line searches don't tell the whole story.
I also have the Erie, wasn't in love with the satin look on the blue portion of the boiler, nor the color being off from the catalog. Today, I taped off the blue portion of the boiler and added a light coat of high gloss to the finish. Liking it much better now.
The Erie had more of the Russians than anyone else, 75 of them. Some were passed on to the Susquehanna when the Suzy-Q got its independence from Erie control in 1940.
Short-lived all right. The Reading only bought four Russians and apparantly didn't like them, all being scrapped by 1935. Unusual to say the least, most railroads expected to get a minimum of 20 years out of a steam engine although certainly most lasted MUCH longer than that. Like most 'roads the Reading was a big believer in the eight-coupled types like 2-8-0's and 2-8-2's.
The real reason that over 200 were left here in the United States was due to the fact that the Russian Revolution subsequently led to Russia becoming the world's first communist state and as a result relations between the USA and the new Soviet government dropped like a rock. Don't forget that as a result of the revolution the red scare was taking place here. Interestingly the same exact thing happened after WW2 ended when the Russians began electrifying the famed Trans Siberian Railway. They ordered 20 Little Joe electrics from GE but never received them again due to US Soviet relations once again deteriorating into the Cold War.
The Bolsheviks also pulled Russia out of the war in progress (WW1) which enabled the Germans to shift over one million men from the Eastern Front to the Western Front. The British, the French, and the Americans weren't too happy about that. Murdering the former Czar Nicholas and his family didn't help matters either. I don't know about other countries but the US wouldn't officially recognize the Soviet government until the 1930s.
@@henryszubielski8601 I’m disappointed on how the Erie color turned out. Not even close to how it was cataloged. I think I’m also going to wait and see what they do with it in the future
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Frisco 1630 is the only operational one in the world in terms of Russian decopods there is a video of her pulling 135 freight cars by herself
Right! And even though those were modern freight cars (hopper cars I believe), empty, and have roller bearing axles it shows just how good those Decapods were. A 135 car pull is nothing to sneeze at! And those Illinois Railroad Museum guys crewing that Frisco Decapod sure know how to get the best out of it!
I ran her a few years at IRM back in the 70s. Long piston stroke, small drivers and light axle loading makes her quite slippery. I learned to just give it a sniff of steam by quickly opening and closing the throttle on start up to load the dry pipe and then very gently lengthening it out. Above 30 mph it was possible to run the valve quadrant within about 5 notches of center really saving the firemans' back.
@@poowg2657 You lucky guy you!
I look forward to getting my model of 1630 real soon.
Um, no. Strasburg no. 90 is a russian decapod
23:19 that’s because that’s Frisco 1630’s whistle
Wow, the color came out great on that 👏 👌 beautiful engine
Got to see the back side of the amusement park as the engine passed by.
Though the color might not have matched, the lighter color shows off the black rails and other details. Enjoy
I think you’re the first to review one of these Decapods other than Strasburg 90!
Nice Russian Decapod history. Gorgeous engine, seems like Lionel has always had catalog color issues. I liked whistles 2 and 4.
The hobo union approves of this video, and will be hopping trains at a layout near you...❤❤❤😊😊😊
Lionel is starting to produce trains faster than the postal service. Only a matter of time until the other talked about locomotives come out
She's a beaut Clark
@Sean's Train Depot
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
WoW! Super Beauty! WoW!
Classic Train History ÷)
New News! New Fun Look!
Enjoying Everything Always
Educational Excellence!
Informative Information!
Grateful Shared Updates!
BestEverBest Teamwork!
☆☆☆☆☆
Would like to see SAL 544 restored to working order, but if I remember correctly I've heard people talking about how she's got a major split in her engine bed that makes that next to impossible.
The Russian color looks great on that Dec!
I don’t understand why it’s so hard for Lionel to get colors right
Quality control's a bit tough when the stuff's being made 12,000 miles away. And when it shows up and it's not 100% what you expected it's too late.
@@wayneantoniazzi2706 other manufacturers usually don’t have this problem
@@mslickstrains Agreed, but they do have other problems on occasion. At any rate no two manufacturers can agree on prototype colors to begin with, unless it's black!
Anyway, it's a bit of a mistake in my opinion to call outfits like Lionel, MTH, Atlas, and others "manufacturers," they're not, strictly speaking they're importers. They don't "make" anything.
The colors, detail, structure, sound, and smoke bring this model engine to realism, Well Done Lionel!!!
Lionel should be like MTH and do one Whistle which is the Whistle that actually goes with the Engine. I almost got one of these. But I'm glad I paid the extra Money for Strasburg 90 instead. I'm not a fan of tethers either. Over all its still a very nice Engine. If I could find an MTH Proto 3.0 Decapod I'm definitely going after it. I recently got Outbid on one. But I will keep looking for a Western Maryland.
I can't help but wonder just how much the changeable whistle and bell sounds adds to the cost of the engine. The sophisticated electronics are expensive enough as it is.
And honestly I find the "cab crew to dispatcher" talk a bit off-putting. That's radio talk and steam engines didn't have radios, at least not in the era these engines operated. Some back-and-forth between the engineer and fireman like MTH does would make a lot more sense. Maybe even the two discussing the baseball scores they read in the morning paper!
@wayneantoniazzi2706 I agree. I dislike the Cab to Tower Talk also. Engineer and and Helper talking over things like Baseball Scores
And what's for Lunch would be really cool and way more realistic for Steam Engines. And OH YES, those dreadful added expenses most of us could do without.
Hi Sean, I too received my decapod. I bought the USA version. It runs great on my fast track. I too, was skeptical of the tether, but it works and looks great.
So does it work OK on O36 Fast track curves? I was wondering if I could get away with that as it seems it is rated for O42.
@@j-dew8175 i’m using o 60 fast track the one thing I noticed is the swinging bell doesn’t always work
Thanks for the info. Yeah I guess I'll have to get some 48 curve track to be safe.
Whistle number 2
The first whistle
It's a plus to see a train one might be interested in purchasing. The colors, details and sounds etc. It helps with decision making. Well done Sean ! ✌️
These Russian Decapods are nice ones.
Fine video Sean! Just a little bit of history which everyone might find interesting.
Just so everyone knows, "decapod" is the Greek word for "ten-footed." When the first decapods made their appearance in the 19th Century the classically educated men running the railroads, or a least one of them, applied the name decapod to one of those ten-drivered locomotives and the name stuck!
Oh, many American railroaders called the Russian Decapods "Bolsheviks!" That name stuck as well!
That Lionel model's a fine representation of an Erie Decapod, the Erie was the majority owner with 75 of them having bought them at rock-bottom prices. I'm not sure if the Erie Deks were rough riders like the Pennsy ones were, the PRR "Hippos" were notoriously rough rides. From what I've read the Erie Deks were pretty popular with the crews.
That blue-grey color of the boiler's pretty sharp, but I'm not so sure it's authentic. Some of the last Erie Deks made their way to the Susquehanna and were photographed in color and the boilers were black. It hardly matters, maybe the Erie's Deks started out blue-grey and eventually were painted black? Who knows?
I've never seen any photos of the Russian Deks purchased by American 'roads with the Russian style railing on the walkways, although the American made ones for export certainly had them. Those high railings made perfect sense on the Russian engines, they were a safety feature to keep Russian train crews from slipping off icy walkways. It doesn't mean the Deks purchased by the Americans didn't start out that way but I don't think the railings lasted too long in American service.
And to my knowledge there's six Russian Decapods that survive today at various rail museums around the country, a former Frisco Decapod is operational at the Illinois Railroad Museum. You can see it on some UA-cam videos!
Decapods may not have caught on here in a big way but they sure were cool!
Thank you so much, I love RR History! A lot of times the online searches don't give much information.
@@seanstraindepot You're welcome Sean! All of the above comes from off my bookshelf and you're right, many times on-line searches don't tell the whole story.
I also have the Erie, wasn't in love with the satin look on the blue portion of the boiler, nor the color being off from the catalog. Today, I taped off the blue portion of the boiler and added a light coat of high gloss to the finish. Liking it much better now.
Yeah, Lionel really needs to really take control of their color issues.
I think I’d trade the swinging bell for whistle steam, if Lionel gave us the option.
HAHA we never get an option.
Man I love the decapod it's real cool steam engine
Wow I can't believe it was used Erie railroad interesting
The Erie had more of the Russians than anyone else, 75 of them. Some were passed on to the Susquehanna when the Suzy-Q got its independence from Erie control in 1940.
Great looking engine. I’m curious as to whether anyone got the short lived Reading versions of these.
Short-lived all right. The Reading only bought four Russians and apparantly didn't like them, all being scrapped by 1935. Unusual to say the least, most railroads expected to get a minimum of 20 years out of a steam engine although certainly most lasted MUCH longer than that.
Like most 'roads the Reading was a big believer in the eight-coupled types like 2-8-0's and 2-8-2's.
@@wayneantoniazzi2706 I would assume the Russian Decapods were not equipped with fireboxes for anthracite burning. That had to be a big drawback.
@@GlennFresch Right, they were strictly bituminous burners.
Does it say on box what is the minimum curve it will run on ,,,this engine is really. cool,,,,thanks for sharing
I believe it's 054 minimum curve. Most scale-sized steam engines need an extra-wide curve radius.
These are actually 042, they are a smaller engine.
@@seanstraindepot That's good, it makes them a bit more verstile! Just like the originals! 🤩
That is a nice looking engine
Sweet!!!
Nice engine!
Very nice!
The real reason that over 200 were left here in the United States was due to the fact that the Russian Revolution subsequently led to Russia becoming the world's first communist state and as a result relations between the USA and the new Soviet government dropped like a rock. Don't forget that as a result of the revolution the red scare was taking place here. Interestingly the same exact thing happened after WW2 ended when the Russians began electrifying the famed Trans Siberian Railway. They ordered 20 Little Joe electrics from GE but never received them again due to US Soviet relations once again deteriorating into the Cold War.
The Bolsheviks also pulled Russia out of the war in progress (WW1) which enabled the Germans to shift over one million men from the Eastern Front to the Western Front. The British, the French, and the Americans weren't too happy about that. Murdering the former Czar Nicholas and his family didn't help matters either.
I don't know about other countries but the US wouldn't officially recognize the Soviet government until the 1930s.
Very nice looking locomotive Sean.
Was this another tooling Lionel purchased from MTH?
Enjoy it.😊
Yes this is an old MTH tooling
@@mslickstrains still looks fantastic! I do like the color combination of the Erie. I will wait to see if the do Western Maryland.
@@henryszubielski8601 I’m disappointed on how the Erie color turned out. Not even close to how it was cataloged. I think I’m also going to wait and see what they do with it in the future