Hey man! I own one of these and love mine to no end. I had an MTH L-4b but sadly the number they choose for the L-4b is modeled slightly incorrectly as most L-4b’s were fitted with Scullin disk drivers not boxpok drivers. Some things to note: the Early mohawks were very basic attempts to have a dual service loco but as mentioned balancing issues made them ride very poorly at higher speeds thus the L-1a through L-2d classes were primarily used and designed for freight hauling. This was rectified with the L-3a class which saw significant improvements from the previous two classes including roller bearings along other changes. The L-3a, b and c classes were not the same with some minor differences between the three of them namely the b having the half sunken (not streamlined) Elesco feed water heater. Also note the Mohawks like the Hudson’s proudly wore the NYC 6 chime not the 5 chime. If you want an idea of what they may have sounded like it’s been said they resemble a Nathan step top 6 chime but (and I quote:) “sounding a PERFECT C# D# FGA# C# combination” but other sources claim they were entirely shop made and the sound hard to replicate. As for the grade crossing whistle on the MTH Mohawk it’s supposed to be a sort of Doppler effect as of the train was at high speed. The whistle is no different just the sound is altered. It’s truly a shame more of these weren’t made however now that Scaletrains owns the HO MTH tooling it’s entirely possible in the future we may see Scaletrains NYC Mohawks with (I’d bet) esu loksound. They’re a fair representation without having to buy a brass loco (although I’ll be getting a few myself ofc being the NYC fanatic I am ;) ) If you ever have any questions about NYC stuff feel free to reach out to me on Reddit or the like as i am full of random and useless NYC knowledge haha
absolutely! I wanted to put a lot more history info in my video but didnt want to bore people with even more history. Theres a VERY detailed article online on the L3 classes. MTH's goal was to simplify the tooling which i understand. The L3c is basically an L3a irl but in model form they had to make some differences. I just wish they also gave the L3a the option to mount smoke deflectors. L3b and L3c were both intended to be freight only even though they couldve make them for dual service. The L3a is the only L3/L4 class without trailing truck boosters, but there was space if they wanted to fit one on in the future for freight duties. I do like the MTH mohawk however I dont really like my L3a. It just looks like an oversized hudson lol, ideally Id love to trade it for a L3b class someday which just looks so uniquely odd. Also, due to the soft springs on the drivers, the front wheel likes to pop out and derail on my curves. If I were to keep it I'll have to replace the front and rear wheel springs with stiffer ones. Maybe I'll do that if I manage to get an MTH L3b! Also would love to find a NJCB L2c... Thanks for spending the time to share additional info! If you provide a detailed comment everytime, I'll be sure to pin it :)
Impressive product review, the NYC rr had the best looking 4-8-2 steam locomotives out of any railroad imo, and MTH should have produced multiple runs of this "Mohawk" type. I especially like the late mohawk classes the L3 and L4, the final versions have the best physical appearance, Tom.
Thanks! Took me over 8 hours to script, record and edit this entire thing, glad it was worth it haha. Lowkey a bit sad im making $0 off of all this work, but im glad i can help fellow modelers out! I agree, NYC was the primary rr to develop the 4-8-2 wheel arrangement, and their mohawks were honestly beautiful feats of engineering and technology! Love the way they look haha. cheers!
The army of mohawk.the a sign of a good locomotive if there is hundreds of them running on the rail.another favorite of mine with the Niagara locomotive and the hudson.has a pretty cool name to .like that the new york central name some of there 3 class of the locomotive ather rivers.
Very nice review! I actually had the opportunity to see both surviving Mohawks. The 3001 we got to go in the cab. It would be nice if either one got restored to operation
@@trainman440 There was an attempt that 3001 was going to be restored but then the project was canceled. On the other hand it inspired me to get a HO mohawk myself which there will be review coming soon!
@@trainman440 I think ScaleTrains could look at the possibility of making US Motive power which can run on the Marklin 3-rail AC system for HO scale as well, one of the things that MTH did better than Marklin when it comes to HO scale was the Pennsy GG1
@@ErichRaeder im admittedly skeptical of that, if scaletrains doesnt find the 3rd rail market to be profitable theyll probably stay away. especially since the 3rd rail ac isnt part of NMRA.
4:50 Have you got a fix for the dual pin wireless drawbar? My MTH consols (PRR) have never been right since I disconnected the tender the first time. Looks like the more robust single pin was their answer.
yea, the dual pin drawbars seen on their H10s, GS4s, and etc. are really flimsy, theyre really thin for some reason. What is exactly broken on yours? Did parts of the plastic break off? Or is the wires just not in contact? Maybe try to rebend the wires so they have better contact with the pins. Worst case you can replace the entire drawbar assembly with a plain metal drawbar and a seperate 4 wire plug.
I have one of the MTH L4a models and have the same complaints you do. The headlight never looked right to me and the feedwater heater gap annoys me to no end, but apart from that the model is pretty great.
agreed! These are totally fixable (replace with brass parts and fill in gaps with putty) but I agree MTH coulda done a better job. They didnt bother moving the headlight down though because they wanted to reuse the L3 tooling, which had the headlight mounted dead center.
So you commented in one of ur videos about the traction tires and I have some for my bli f7 prr for N scale but how do you even put them on when u cant take them apart very well?
Great review! These, the Empire State Hudson, the Allegheny, and the DM&IR Yellowstone are some of MTH’s finest in my opinion. (I’m also a bit biased towards their Big Boy but I realize that it’s not everyone’s cup of tea.)
I agree fully, those are definitely MTH's best steamers! Id also add the PRR K4s in that list for being excellent, however imo the BEST would be tied between the DM&IR and Mohawk, both of which rival brass. ----------------------------- Basically the only three engines I would NOT put on their top list is the big boy (which the tooling was stole from BLI's blueline big boy), the GS4 (which has some inaccuracies like missing bell) and their berkshire which just looks outdated and details crude. I actually did a review on the berkshire a while back, showing how crude certain details are. Cheers!
@@trainman440 LOL RIP the last three you mentioned are at the top of my list for must-haves XD but I respect your opinion (I already have their Big Boy so it’s just the GS4 and the Berk I’m looking out for)
@@michaelstrains4014 LMAO yea thats a rip. theyre still good models, but most certainly not their top lineup. The gs4 i still recommend because its still miles better than BLIs and bachmann/Lionels. The Bigboy is okay, not particularly special but most definitely not bad. The berk is the one I would actively avoid. Proto 2000 berks are just SO much better in terms of detail, quality control (ik so many ppl with broken mth berks) and performance. Not to mention cheaper. But dont let me stop you!
@@trainman440 I totally agree the Proto2k Berkshires are spectacular in detail compared to MTH’s, but I’m a sucker for the die cast construction and the sound file MTH offers since they captured NKP 765’s whistle perfectly. But if a Proto2k Berkshire comes up for a good price I probably wouldn’t hesitate to pick it up.
@@michaelstrains4014 I understand that. Personally I dont base my locomotive purchasing decisions on whether an engine has a good whistle recording but I know some people do! Personally, value for money and prototype accuracy is number 1, followed by mechanism, detail, etc. With something like what the material composition of an engine (diecast, plastic) being toward the bottom of the list, as long as both can pull a long train. But that's just a personal thing. Cheers!
I have the BLI Brass Hybrid L4-b, I replaced the old QSI with a TCS WowSound. That engine is so darn heavy it can pull a 24-box car NYC Pacemaker with little effort.
I agree! these are excellent runners, I really like mine. Might also replace the decoder, Im not much of a fan of QSI, but I must admit their NYC whistles are pretty awesome. TCS doesn't have an NYC to my understanding, what whistle did you choose for that model?
@@trainman440I had the MTH version before, so I used the "London and North Eastern Crosby 3 Chime Long" as it was closest to the MTH. But when I asked TCS what was the closest to the NYC 6 Chime, they recommended "Reading 6 Chime 1"
@@evanhizon8112 Personally, neither of those sound right to me. I personally plan to use either esu or tsunami for my NYC locos cause they have better NYC whistles. Cheers!
Hey man! I own one of these and love mine to no end. I had an MTH L-4b but sadly the number they choose for the L-4b is modeled slightly incorrectly as most L-4b’s were fitted with Scullin disk drivers not boxpok drivers.
Some things to note: the Early mohawks were very basic attempts to have a dual service loco but as mentioned balancing issues made them ride very poorly at higher speeds thus the L-1a through L-2d classes were primarily used and designed for freight hauling. This was rectified with the L-3a class which saw significant improvements from the previous two classes including roller bearings along other changes. The L-3a, b and c classes were not the same with some minor differences between the three of them namely the b having the half sunken (not streamlined) Elesco feed water heater. Also note the Mohawks like the Hudson’s proudly wore the NYC 6 chime not the 5 chime. If you want an idea of what they may have sounded like it’s been said they resemble a Nathan step top 6 chime but (and I quote:) “sounding a PERFECT C# D# FGA# C# combination” but other sources claim they were entirely shop made and the sound hard to replicate. As for the grade crossing whistle on the MTH Mohawk it’s supposed to be a sort of Doppler effect as of the train was at high speed. The whistle is no different just the sound is altered. It’s truly a shame more of these weren’t made however now that Scaletrains owns the HO MTH tooling it’s entirely possible in the future we may see Scaletrains NYC Mohawks with (I’d bet) esu loksound. They’re a fair representation without having to buy a brass loco (although I’ll be getting a few myself ofc being the NYC fanatic I am ;) )
If you ever have any questions about NYC stuff feel free to reach out to me on Reddit or the like as i am full of random and useless NYC knowledge haha
absolutely! I wanted to put a lot more history info in my video but didnt want to bore people with even more history. Theres a VERY detailed article online on the L3 classes. MTH's goal was to simplify the tooling which i understand. The L3c is basically an L3a irl but in model form they had to make some differences. I just wish they also gave the L3a the option to mount smoke deflectors. L3b and L3c were both intended to be freight only even though they couldve make them for dual service. The L3a is the only L3/L4 class without trailing truck boosters, but there was space if they wanted to fit one on in the future for freight duties.
I do like the MTH mohawk however I dont really like my L3a. It just looks like an oversized hudson lol, ideally Id love to trade it for a L3b class someday which just looks so uniquely odd. Also, due to the soft springs on the drivers, the front wheel likes to pop out and derail on my curves. If I were to keep it I'll have to replace the front and rear wheel springs with stiffer ones. Maybe I'll do that if I manage to get an MTH L3b!
Also would love to find a NJCB L2c...
Thanks for spending the time to share additional info! If you provide a detailed comment everytime, I'll be sure to pin it :)
You did a Really nice job on the editing and camerawork. Very nice video!
thanks! Took 8 hours from start to finish :o
I like it dude! Great review!
thanks! :D
Impressive product review, the NYC rr had the best looking 4-8-2 steam locomotives out of any railroad imo, and MTH should have produced multiple runs of this "Mohawk" type. I especially like the late mohawk classes the L3 and L4, the final versions have the best physical appearance, Tom.
Thanks! Took me over 8 hours to script, record and edit this entire thing, glad it was worth it haha. Lowkey a bit sad im making $0 off of all this work, but im glad i can help fellow modelers out! I agree, NYC was the primary rr to develop the 4-8-2 wheel arrangement, and their mohawks were honestly beautiful feats of engineering and technology! Love the way they look haha. cheers!
Awesome locomotive! Awesome trains moving!
thanks!
The army of mohawk.the a sign of a good locomotive if there is hundreds of them running on the rail.another favorite of mine with the Niagara locomotive and the hudson.has a pretty cool name to .like that the new york central name some of there 3 class of the locomotive ather rivers.
absolutely! The Niagara Mohawk and Hudson is the NYC big three!
Great video!
thanks!
Very nice review! I actually had the opportunity to see both surviving Mohawks. The 3001 we got to go in the cab. It would be nice if either one got restored to operation
thanks! Wow, Im very jealous, would love to visit both in person someday. If one of them could be restored Id be a happy man :)
@@trainman440 There was an attempt that 3001 was going to be restored but then the project was canceled. On the other hand it inspired me to get a HO mohawk myself which there will be review coming soon!
@@TWIGYBNSF that's awesome looking forward to the review! Is it an MTH engine?
@@trainman440 it is! I don't wanna spoil the surprise because the one I found has a story
@@TWIGYBNSF oooo interesting!
I am glad for your recommendation
Glad I could help!
One thing which I miss about MTH is that they tried to make US Motive Power which can run on the Marklin 3-rail AC system for HO scale as well
indeed that was quite a unique choice for MTH to make. Not sure how big the 3 rail AC HO market is but they were one of few US makers to do so!
@@trainman440 I think ScaleTrains could look at the possibility of making US Motive power which can run on the Marklin 3-rail AC system for HO scale as well, one of the things that MTH did better than Marklin when it comes to HO scale was the Pennsy GG1
@@ErichRaeder im admittedly skeptical of that, if scaletrains doesnt find the 3rd rail market to be profitable theyll probably stay away. especially since the 3rd rail ac isnt part of NMRA.
4:50 Have you got a fix for the dual pin wireless drawbar? My MTH consols (PRR) have never been right since I disconnected the tender the first time. Looks like the more robust single pin was their answer.
yea, the dual pin drawbars seen on their H10s, GS4s, and etc. are really flimsy, theyre really thin for some reason. What is exactly broken on yours? Did parts of the plastic break off? Or is the wires just not in contact? Maybe try to rebend the wires so they have better contact with the pins.
Worst case you can replace the entire drawbar assembly with a plain metal drawbar and a seperate 4 wire plug.
I have one of the MTH L4a models and have the same complaints you do. The headlight never looked right to me and the feedwater heater gap annoys me to no end, but apart from that the model is pretty great.
agreed! These are totally fixable (replace with brass parts and fill in gaps with putty) but I agree MTH coulda done a better job. They didnt bother moving the headlight down though because they wanted to reuse the L3 tooling, which had the headlight mounted dead center.
Can this locomotive handle the 18 radius curves?? Or do you need wider curves....please respond
22" min radius. I honestly doubt anything as big as a 4-8-2 is able to run on 18" curves :/
So you commented in one of ur videos about the traction tires and I have some for my bli f7 prr for N scale but how do you even put them on when u cant take them apart very well?
you have to remove the bottom plate and take out the wheel/axle. Then slip the traction tires on/off and reassemble. Good luck!
Great review! These, the Empire State Hudson, the Allegheny, and the DM&IR Yellowstone are some of MTH’s finest in my opinion. (I’m also a bit biased towards their Big Boy but I realize that it’s not everyone’s cup of tea.)
I agree fully, those are definitely MTH's best steamers! Id also add the PRR K4s in that list for being excellent, however imo the BEST would be tied between the DM&IR and Mohawk, both of which rival brass.
-----------------------------
Basically the only three engines I would NOT put on their top list is the big boy (which the tooling was stole from BLI's blueline big boy), the GS4 (which has some inaccuracies like missing bell) and their berkshire which just looks outdated and details crude. I actually did a review on the berkshire a while back, showing how crude certain details are. Cheers!
@@trainman440 LOL RIP the last three you mentioned are at the top of my list for must-haves XD but I respect your opinion (I already have their Big Boy so it’s just the GS4 and the Berk I’m looking out for)
@@michaelstrains4014 LMAO yea thats a rip. theyre still good models, but most certainly not their top lineup. The gs4 i still recommend because its still miles better than BLIs and bachmann/Lionels. The Bigboy is okay, not particularly special but most definitely not bad. The berk is the one I would actively avoid. Proto 2000 berks are just SO much better in terms of detail, quality control (ik so many ppl with broken mth berks) and performance. Not to mention cheaper. But dont let me stop you!
@@trainman440 I totally agree the Proto2k Berkshires are spectacular in detail compared to MTH’s, but I’m a sucker for the die cast construction and the sound file MTH offers since they captured NKP 765’s whistle perfectly. But if a Proto2k Berkshire comes up for a good price I probably wouldn’t hesitate to pick it up.
@@michaelstrains4014 I understand that. Personally I dont base my locomotive purchasing decisions on whether an engine has a good whistle recording but I know some people do! Personally, value for money and prototype accuracy is number 1, followed by mechanism, detail, etc. With something like what the material composition of an engine (diecast, plastic) being toward the bottom of the list, as long as both can pull a long train. But that's just a personal thing. Cheers!
You should do more reviews
I will! :)
What would you consider a good deal for one of these?
Great deal is under $300. Up to $370 is still reasonable (esp the rarer ones like the L3b), over $400 is overpriced. Hope this helps!
I have the BLI Brass Hybrid L4-b, I replaced the old QSI with a TCS WowSound. That engine is so darn heavy it can pull a 24-box car NYC Pacemaker with little effort.
I agree! these are excellent runners, I really like mine. Might also replace the decoder, Im not much of a fan of QSI, but I must admit their NYC whistles are pretty awesome. TCS doesn't have an NYC to my understanding, what whistle did you choose for that model?
@@trainman440I had the MTH version before, so I used the "London and North Eastern Crosby 3 Chime Long" as it was closest to the MTH.
But when I asked TCS what was the closest to the NYC 6 Chime, they recommended "Reading 6 Chime 1"
@@evanhizon8112 Personally, neither of those sound right to me. I personally plan to use either esu or tsunami for my NYC locos cause they have better NYC whistles. Cheers!
Are theses still produced by MTH .....if so.....how much??
No they are long out of production and very rare to find online. These days they go for around $350-400.
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