Aristo motive power

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Quick links to major topics on this page:

General comments
Aristo FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
The Aristo Socket
Who makes Aristo products? A short history
Miscellaneous Aristo part numbers
An unofficial Aristo "in development" page

This section is tips and modifications for your Aristo locos. There's a lot of little things that you should know, and will help you enjoy your locomotives, check the submenus on the left for individual Aristo locos and some other topics listed.

Note: If you read nothing else, you should read the two sections on the most commonly used motor/gear drive mechanisms. This will help you to know what to expect, how to avoid problems, and how to repair them:

Prime Mover Basics - This is about the new "prime mover" type of modular gearbox, used on all 3 axle diesels, and the GP40
Original Style Diesel Trucks - This is about the original gearbox, still used in all 2 axle diesels except the GP40

General Comments on Aristo quality/suitability:

I would say that for the person that does not mind tinkering, Aristo motive power is a good deal for the money, but you must tinker with them, and there are some obvious and significant quality control issues in certain areas.

http://article.nationalreview.com/print/?q=ODA5MTM2NmEzM2JkYWZhN2RiZmFkOWIwNGYzZDhhZTU=

There is a lot of detail and fidelity to scale. The decoration (painting and road name identification) is some of the best. Once "tinkered with", the locomotives are reliable, and the new gearboxes are tough, and current production is all ball bearing.

Note: I also recommend you read about the wiring and installation of the QSI in the Mallet and Mikado sections, there some common issues and fixes detailed there.

Aristo Motive Power FAQ

"my loco does not run on track/battery/rc properly"
"smoke came out when I hooked up battery power"

As much as I hate saying negative things, many Aristo locomotives are wired differently, or just plain wrong. Normally they run OK on DC, but when you add RC or DCC or even one of Aristo's own plug in TE receivers, you can encounter problems, sometimes catastrophic.

Watch out for wiring in steamers especially, two common problems are miswiring in the tender, and the wiring of the track/power switch in the loco. Be sure to check out the Mikado section for an explanation and fix.

Also, the tenders on the Mallet usually have pickup wires to the tender wheels, but they are usually not connected to anything. Again the Mikado and Mallet sections tell you how to improve this.

In the diesels, the "MU cables" (the wires that run "through" the loco and come out as 2 pin JST connectors by the couplers) often have a "polyfuse" circuit breaker inside in the middle of this power "bus". These usually cannot handle more than one loco, so if you actually MU 2 locos, they usually trip the "polyfuse" circuit breakers and stop. A simple solution is to bypass these, but then you have removed some important protection.

My best advice: ANY modification to the loco, or the use of the "battery"/"MU" cables requires checking with a voltmeter. There are just too many experiences with melted wires and circuit boards documented on all the forums.

"my loco does not pull enough cars"
"my steam loco locks up in reverse/forward"
"my loco keeps breaking side rods"

The "Prime Mover" modular gearbox system has several design weaknesses in my opinion.

The most obvious is exhibited by the drivers slipping on the axles. The drivers are mounted on a tapered shaft. The fit is usually poor from the factory, and often red loctite is gooped on to try to bandaid this. Slipping drivers are annoying on a diesel, but can be fatal to connecting rod gear on a steamer. There are simple fixes to this, but time consuming.

"my loco will not run on dirty track"

Another weakness is the power pickup. In the original design, the ball bearings used were all metal, so the power went from the wheel through the bearing to a metal clip and the wiring. Since then, "hybrid" bearings have come into use, where the balls are ceramic. This has an advantage, lower friction and heat, but NO CONDUCTIVITY, so Aristo has a very goofy arrangement to pick up power and it is normally not tested/assembled properly. I have seen up to 50% failures in conductivity in brand new locos.

Additionally, for some reason, while aristo freight car wheels are made of a non-ferrous (won't rust) material, Aristo diesel loco wheels are made of cheaply plated steel. In moist climates, they will rust once the thin plating is worn through:

The Aristo plug and play socket

Quite a while ago, in 2001 Aristo took suggestions about using a socket in their locos for a plug and play interface for DCC decoders and began implementing it.

Aristo has used this over the years for some of their proprietary R/C receivers. Digitrax made a DCC decoder to fit. In 2008, several more DCC decoders were made, and Bachmann copied it for several of their locomotive, though they made some mistakes in the pinout. (there are people who say that Aristo implemented something different than what was published)

There are 2 rows of pins, but only one is wired up (12 pin), the other is used for mechanical support (10 pin). On the 12 pin connector, the pin assignments are:

1. right rail pickup
2. right rail pickup
3. motor (+?)
4. front lamp control
5. smoke unit
6. positive output
7. ground
8. smoke unit
9. rear lamp control
10. motor (-?)
11. left rail pickup
12. left rail pickup

The locos come with a dummy plug installed to allow DC operation. It has the following jumpers:

1-4 (connects right rail to motor lead and enables front lamp)

9-12(connects left rail to other motor lead and enables rear lamp)

(there must be a jumper between 5 and 8 to enable the smoke unit) (**need** to update)

PDF file from Aristo site on the socket: http://www.aristocraft.com/techinfo/dcc%20rcc%20pin%20connectors/DCC.PDF

Note: this is not always implemented as stated on the Aristo site.

Important note:

The Aristo socket is NOT always wired the same, nor is the "sound" socket. There are tremendous wiring variations where wire colors are swapped, but bigger problems with sockets that you assume are standard.

The headlight and backup lights are not always independent, nor controlled by the socket. The sound socket may get voltage from the motor, or from the track pickups. This may make your sound card go to full speed. This problem has been reported in the E8 quite often.

Who makes Aristo?

There were some statements that Aristo products were made by a J. P. Morgan company: "The management of our supplier is a JP Morgan company called CCMP who control Sanda Kan". In reality there was an Asian company seeded by J.P. Morgan. It sort of does not matter now. Previously the stability and the quality of the company was touted by using the J. P. Morgan reference. With the problems at Sanda Kan and subsequent sale, now J.P. Morgan is the "bad guy".

The real info:

Aristo products are made by Kader Industries.

Previously, Aristo products were made by Sanda Kan, in late 2008, Kader bought Sanda Kan.

J.P. Morgain Partners Asia owned Sanda Kan between 2004 and 2008

J.P. Morgan Partners Asia bought Sanda Kan for $188 million in 2004.
J.P. Morgan Partners Asia was a Hong Kong company.
J.P. Morgan Partners Asia became CCMP Capital Asia, completely independent of J.P. Morgan Partners Asia, which is NOT the same as J.P. Morgan USA.

As of late 2008, Sanda Kan is wholly owned by Kader, the largest manufacturer of model trains in the world. Kader owns Bachmann.

Miscellaneous AristoCraft part numbers:

Here is a short list of Aristo parts I have ordered over the years, just to have a convenient place for them:

(note, when you try to search parts, you MUST put ART in caps at the front of the part number, no dashes... like ART29 )

Mikado pilot - 21400-22 (2 each)
polyswitches - (need number)
Mikado bell - 29101-96
mikado contact wires - 21500-108 (4 each)
equalizers (clamps for contact wires) - 21500-109 (4 each)
hex head screws large - 21500-114 (8 each)
hex head screws small - 21500-115 ( 6 each)
washers for pacific - 21500-121 (6 each)
spring for prime mover - 29132-164
ball bearing for prime mover - 29132-163
pacific brake hangers (need number)
ART29098 - freight truck metal wheels and BB (simulated??)
ART29099 - modern freight trucks, plastic wheels
ART29100 - modern freight trucks with roller bearings (simulated)
ART29101 - freight truck with plastic wheels (arch bar/ betterdorf)
ART29102 - caboose truck, metal wheels (not leaf spring, appear to have carbon brush pickups one axle)
ART29103 - passenger truck (modern??) 3 axle with 6 wheel set (can't find online currently)
ART29104 - plastic wheels (2 axles)
ART29105 - rogers loco small wheel set
ART29106A - rogers front drive wheels
ART29106B - rogers back drive wheels
ART29107 - trucks passenger (wood) (old time?) metal wheels
ART29108 - pair of trucks for long tender, with pickup wires
ART29109 - pair of trucks, 2 axle, heavyweight passenger
ART29110 - pair of trucks, 3 axle, heavyweight passenger
ART29111B - metal wheels - 4 axles
ART29111BB - metal wheels, 12 pack of 4 axles??
ART29111C - metal wheel set for club cars (??)
ART29111D - metal wheels, black w/o hub (needed for roller bearing trucks?
ART29111S - 4 axles, metal wheels silver
ART29112 - springs for freight trucks (pack of 50)
ART29113 - springs for passenger trucks (maybe 50?)
ART29114 - springs for diesel trucks
ART29115 - pair of trucks for slope tender
ART29117 - passenger trucks for streamliner (pair?)
ART29118 - diesel bushings
ART29118P - older style diesel bushings
ART29119 - black springs for streamliner
ART29119S - silver springs for streamliner
ART29130 - wheels for RDC (and other 2 axle?) - no traction tires - pack of 2
ART29113 - black springs - 0.600" long x 0.310" OD - lighter gauge and "softer" than 29119
ART29119S - silver springs for RDC, RS-3, etc. - 0.635" long x 0.34" OD
ART29119B - black springs for RDC, RS-3, etc. - 0.635" long x 0.34" OD
ART29120 - truck (looks like bolster and coupler tang) "delton to aristo". pair (used on delton trucks to match aristo height)
ART29123B - ball bearing wheels, 2 axles (have tabs to solder for power pickup)
ART29130 - metal wheel, replacement (maybe 2 axle diesel)
ART29131 - wheels for RDC (and other 2 axles) with traction tires - pack of 2
ART29132B - inner gear box w/o wheels (2 axle diesel?)
ART29134 - commonwealth 3 axle truck (pair) (used on steam tenders)
ART29135 - wheels for 3 axle diesel (and GP40) - pack of 2
ART29138 - stainless steel wheels for 3 axle trucks (6 wheels)
ART29139 - stainless steel wheels for 2 axle trucks (4 wheels) (not gp40)
ART29140 - bb wheel inserts for freight ??
ART29141 - consolidation flanged wheels (each) (new style with metal insert?)
ART29150 - new profile diesel wheel (2 ea)
ART29190 - body mount kuppler (pair?)
ART29191 - body mount kuppler (10 pair)
ART29192 - body mount kuppler (100 pair)
ART29193 - drill and jig (for mounting kuppler?)
ART29196 - stock aristo knuckle coupler (1 pair) E8
ART29197 - stock aristo knuckle coupler (1 pair) Dash 9
ART29200 - stock aristo knuckle coupler (1 pair)
ART29201 - knuckle coupler RS-3 / lil critter
ART29205 - knuckle coupler (1 pair) SD-45
ART29206 - knuckle coupler FA (1 pair)
ART 29345 - RS-3 speaker
ART 29351-20 - one wheel for an FA-1, will fit all other modern 2 axle diesels (except GP40) (old numbers?)
ART 29351-20-TT - same as above with traction tire. (old numbers?)
ART29353 - universal assembly for FA-1
ART29354 - axle w/gear for FA-1
ART29355 -22 - one wheel on SD45 exploded parts diagram - should be same for all prime movers
ART29366 - PCC power truck
ART29403 - misc screwsassortment
ART29411 - ball bearing set (10) for std (freight?)
ART29520 - male plug 8 pin
ART29521 - female plug 8 pin
ART29607 - short MU jumper cable, 2 pin female both ends
ART29608 - 2 and 3 pin connectors on a cable (sound cable)
ART29700 - chair kit for long caboose (6 pieces)
ART29703 - double chair set (of 4)
ART29704 - new roof walk for freight cars
ART29706 - new lowered floor for rolling stock in brown w/header
ART29708 - long caboose roof walk/new
ART29709 - snow plow dash 9
ART29710 - big plow for snow plow car
ART29721 - snow plow GP40, SD45

The unofficial Aristo "In Development" listing

I thought I'd try to keep this updated. The information listed will come from official Aristo sources only, mostly from posts in the forum. I'm doing this just out of interest, since this page on the Aristo site is no longer updated.

(OK, so I'm having some fun below with "the good, the bad, the ugly" theme from that famous movie, but there is some stuff that has been long promised and advertised, then just dropped off the radar.

Aristo open top gondola cars

2010/04/01 - "New (2010) Production Gondolas (open top) - all new artwork, Delivery date May 4, 2010." (Michael J, Aristo forum)

First: - the good - delivered - or on track

SW-1 switcher - promised 2010 - talked about for many years, but now tied to the PCC car drivetrain

(Aristo forum 6/7/2011_

Dear Todd,

We are doing an SW-1 for next year. The R & D is done and mold work will begin soon.

All the best,
Lewis Polk

PCC Car- promised end of 2009 - Delivered January 2011

2009-05-19 - Lewis has the PCC and the Consolidation by the end of the year 2009

Dear All,

We have gone ahead with a major steam locomotive project at a time when no one else is doing a mass produced G gauge steam locomotive product. It will probably sell for under $500 over the counter and is a brilliant rendition of the full size train.

Don't forget the PCC trolley will also come by the end of the year, so we are moving ahead. Yes. we're cautious, but understandably so. Though the hobbyist will buy the product we need to be paid by the dealers who actually place the orders with us. That's a reality of the marketplace at this time and we have been successful on that front. We were nervous about a worse potential later in the year, but I think it has bottomed and will start back up now. Therefore, it's full steam ahead!!!!!

All the best,
Lewis Polk

0-4-0 Live steam - was promised summer 2008 - Delivered January 2010

- It had been shown for several years.
- on the drawing board in 2007 catalog
- "The 0-4-0 is due this summer, 2-4-2 is due late summer/early fall.", George Adams, Aristo forum, 12/22/2007
- "We were not happy with the performance of the 0-4-0 and have requested changes. I just spoke with Scott and we should be receiving the updated sample next week. Depending on how it performs will determine when they will ship.", George Adams, Aristo forum, 2/17/2009
- In October 2009, Lewis Polk said that the 0-4-0 would be delivered "next month", Lewis Polk, October 2009
- The 0-4-0 will be "Due in stores in January 2010.", Lewis Polk, email, November 30, 2009

RDC-3 - originally talked about in 2006, seemed to be promised around end of 2008, delivered July-August 2010

- RDC-1 will be in production again, Michael J, Aristo Forum, 6-10-2006 (just for reference)
- Blueprints received from factory, test shots about a year away, John Mikesh, Aristo Forum, 8-21-2007
- Will have complete interiors, George Adams, Aristo Forum, 1-2-2008
- "planning to run this year", George Adams, Aristo Forum, 6-18-2008
- "it will be made" in same thread as above, Lewis Polk, Aristo Forum, 6-19-2008, mentioned they had to "close out to get rid of it" (about RDC1)
- requested to leave traction tires off by several.
- It will have full interior, Lewis, Aristo Forum, 6-19-2008
- "The mold and die work is done at this time. Right now working on circuit board and other interior components. Right now if there are no further delays or problems, the RDC-3 should be reaching store shelves around Spring time of 2009.", John Mikesh, Aristo forum, 10/18/2008
- "Dear Winston, Yes, we are making the RDC-3 sometime in the spring. When I have a date confirmed I will pass it along.All the best,Lewis Polk" Lewis, Aristo Forum, 1-2-2009
- "Dear Winston,We're expecting a finished sample in several days and if approved it will go into production shortly. We needed a new circuit board as the new interior took up the space where the board went in the RDC-1, so it took some special engineering to re-seat the location of the board. Let's see how the sample is when it get's here, but there are often roadblecks that require fixing as this one was. We have also added LED lighting to the interior and that was a bit of a challenge too. We're not talking a one of, but how to do it in mass production.All the best,Lewis Polk", Lewis, Aristo forum, 4-10-2009

Aristo RDC

2010-04-13 Here by summer, Lewis Polk in Aristo forum
2010-10? delivered

E8 - second run - promised end of 2008 (need delivery date)

"Yes, they are being made now along with the new road names. They should be here by the end of the year." Lewis Polk, forum, 10/10/2008, in response to if there was a second run of E8's and new road names.

GP-40 second run - promised no later than August 2008 (need delivery date)

2007 catalog listed GP-40 as "on the drawing board"
The second run GP-40's in Norfolk Southern will be out in about 9 months to a year." ,John Mikesh, forum, 8-17-07
On 10/23/2008, Karen Darling posted this response from John Mikesh to a PM from her:I do not have an estimated time for the second run of GP-40's at this time, although your most likely looking at the spring of 09. It will be after the PCC car which was supposed to have been here this fall/winter. With the factory move we are about 6 months behind on everything. The E-8 should have been here in June and I'm trying to get them here by November.

Second: - the bad - promised and just taking forever

SW-1 Switcher - note, this is here just because it's been mentioned forever, but is dependent (apparently) on the PCC car, which has finally arrived in January 2011

Dear All,

Team Aristo decided we needed a small switcher to round out our line and this one was the most appealing to us. Not only that, but we found one nearby that could be measured to make sure it was super accurate. We think it was one of the most widely used locos, so we can make a large number of road names. Some of the pictures shown here verify that. We spent a year in research and drawing and have paid the piper already, so this will happen.

All the best,
Lewis Polk (11/21/2008 Aristo forum)

Reported by Ward Hutton in the Aristo Forum 3/27/2012:

Jim, I spoke to Lewis about the sound RX. I believe it was a $50 premium and they would still produce the receivers without sound. First sounds out are a diesel and steam. Plan is to produce a sound for each of the Aristo loco offerings.

Let me see if I can remember some of what Scott said at his Q&A:
Aristo is definitely staying in G Scale.
S1 pushed back to 2013, might bump it up to 2012. Plans to produce thousands in a lot of road numbers.
PCC Trolleys on order in two batches. Spare trucks for trolleys are on order.
Connies on order. New Connie wheels on order. (Lewis said sample wheel will be in about 2 weeks, then we will see them in about 60 days)
20% Price increase 4/1. Pass through from China.
Plastic track is dead.
Firefly Eggliner only one approved for 2012 production at this time.
Center Cabs will be run again.
Some streamliners being produced 2012, (I don't remember which). Probably in sets. I think he said same for H/Ws.
Plans to replenish stock, "if molds are done, why not use them".
Updating exploded drawings.
New, advanced, better than ever, website roles out around 4/1/2012. Will inlcude database and forum. No current data/information will be lost.
Won't cheapen starter sets to sell to toy stores.
New 0-4-0 due out, completely reworked.

That's all I remember right now.

Aristo Consolidation

2005-08-04 - first mention of the consolidation on the Aristo forum, no official data, but at this time a northern and consolidation appeared to be "thought about".

2005-09-15 - first mention of the "upcoming consolidation" by an Aristo employee, Lewis Polk

2006-06-13 - The part numbers for the consolidation are published around this time and people start talking about specific details and road names. The Consolidation was available for pre-order from a number of vendors.

2006-06-17 - Manufacturing order of new products from Lewis Polk:

Dear All,

In the near future the E-8 and then the C-16 re-do with the Prime Mover gears, metal side rods, diecast wheels and lowered. After that we are doing the Class 66 for Europe, the GP-40 and then we will begin the Consolidation.

The Streamliners are also going to be made with a full interior, figures, LED lighting, ball bearings and a new lowered bolster with shorter couplers. The Smoothsides will follow this.

These are all in the works and I don't want to discuss plans beyond that.

Later in the same thread from Lewis Polk:

Dear All,

The annoucements I made above are all in the mold stage and will be delivered within a one year time frame. I did leave out the well cars, which should come within a year too. As we will do the Euro version first for the Class 66 I left this as a cutoff point. New Box Cars and some others are in that gray area, so they were left off too.

2006-10-09 - Lewis Polk relates manufacturing order of new products:

Dear Aaron,

The Brass Caboose is in stock now having just arrived on Friday. The Northern R&D is done, but the exact date is not fixed yet. The timing will be based on the sales of the items before it like the Consolidation etc.

All the best,
Lewis Polk

2007-01-27 - Lewis Polk reinforces manufacturing order:

No, the Consolidation is the next steam and the SD-9 is the next diesel. Someone mis-spoke.

All the best,
Lewis Polk

2007-06-28 - Brian Allison gets "due date" from retailer:

a retailer's website says that 2-8-0 consolidation (cat. #20603) is due in store around july 23 and will sell for around usd560.

don't think this is the c-16 (cat. #'s 80.....)...is it 'pie-in-the-sky' instead ?

brian a.

2007-08-10 - John Mikesh states:

Hi Rocky,

Right now still working on the C-16 which will be the next steam loco out. The Standard gauge consolidated is in the works no definite date to be released, however it is progressing slowly. Engineering work is still being done no test shots are available yet.

2008-01-04 - Lewis Polk states:

Dear All,

After we finish the Consolidation the next steam loco will be the Northern. The R&D is done, but we have to finish one and move on to the next step by step.

All the best,
Lewis Polk

2007-08-20 - Lewis Polk states no more product announcements until molds are finished:

Therefore, we will stop announcing product until the molds are finished and we're in the last few months of development and artwork. As owner and President this final decision rests with me and I change my bet as needed.

2008-01-02 - Lewis Polk gives current development stage of consolidation:

Dear Nick,

The loco is in the mold stage, so the electronics have not been done yet. It will be a Prime Mover gearbox loco, but I do not have driver sizes at the moment. I'm sure they are on the plans, but I do not have the plans handy.

You can look at the same loco from S-Helper in S Gauge on their web site for a good representation of what the loco will look like. http://www.showcaseline.com/

Our Mr. Song implemented the Prime Mover drive system on to the body and we're sure it will work well, however, let's wait for the test shots to arrive.

More details when the mold work is finished.

All the best,
Lewis Polk

Same thread, same date, Lewis Polk give first due date:

Dear Mark,

Yes, I intend to have blind drivers for the two center wheels.These should be out in the Fall of 2008. I do not know yet about the light positions on the various road names or the front coupler.

We normally do those things once the main test shots are here.

All the best,
Lewis Polk

2008-01 - list of part numbers from January Insider:

This is the list from the Jan 1 Insider:

ART20600 CONSOLIDATION 2-8-0 UNDEC 675.00
ART20601 CONSOLIDATION 2-8-0 B&O 675.00
ART20602 CONSOLIDATION 2-8-0 W. MARYLAND 675.00
ART20603 CONSOLIDATION 2-8-0 ATSF 675.00
ART20604 CONSOLIDATION 2-8-0 UP 675.00
ART20605 CONSOLIDATION 2-8-0 NEW HAVEN 675.00
ART20606 CONSOLIDATION 2-8-0 C&NW 675.00
ART20607 CONSOLIDATION 2-8-0 GN 675.00
ART20608 CONSOLIDATION 2-8-0 NYC 675.00

2008-08-14 - "test shot" picture shown on the Aristo site by George Adams

2008-09-04 - Lewis responds to me about the famous (we did not make the streamliners because no one preordered them) lack of streamliner production:

(really no idea what "on order" means)

Dear Greg,

If you check our Internet site you would see the RDC-3, 2Bay Hoppers, 0-4-0 Live Steam and soon the Consolidation are on order. The Rogers Live steam will be place on order after the 0-4-0 arrives. Step by step, but the information is there for you to see. We still have a large stock of the ATSF streamliner coaches we did make on hand, so we're not jumping on board to make a lot more in this business climate.

The store is a bit new for consumers, but dealers have had access to this information for almost 10 years now.

All the best,
Lewis Polk

2008-09-05 - Aristo states again the "on order" status of the consolidation

Dear Jerry,

We are just placing orders for Spring delivery, but that doesn't mean the stores do not have them in stock. We wait for the stores to clear their shelves, not necessarily for us to do so. The Pacifics in stores are the new version as we changed over several years ago.

We have alloted the P.O.'s for this and Maryann is working on processing the orders for the Pacific, Mallet and Consolidation. The diesels are on order and the steamers are up next.

All the best,
Lewis Polk

2008-09-06 - Lewis again reinforces the production priority of the consolidation:

Dear Ron B,

Great testimonial that is much appreciated here!

The GG-1 is on hold until we see how the market has absorbed or not the three other GG-1's already on the market. Can we make a better one? Of course! However, can we sell several thousand with the cream of the demand already invested in earlier releases of the model? I really wonder and the economy this year is worrying.

The H.O. market has several makers of the same products, but G is 10 times more costly to make and the market is 1/10th the size. This cuts the odds down greatly and doesn't make duplication a good investment in our niche market. That is an unfortunate reality, but there are so many other items to make like the Consolidation that it's less a problem than the rest of worrisome things.

The designs are done and that took tremendous research and engineering time, but to invest more than my house in a product where demand in a small market is saturated is too risky. We haven't give up, but we're waiting for better days. Prudence rules and we've already made a major gamble with the Consolidation in face of a tough market.

All the best,
Lewis Polk

2008-09-14 - Lewis reinforces the priority of manufacture to me:

Dear Greg,

As I see it, trimming the tang was what Ron Wenger recommended and that's only in play when running double headed, not back to back. Yes, as I said it's going to require a new coupler and it will take engineers several weeks to design and 90 days to make the mold. Then it has to be tested etc, so there is no quick response now. And that's if we take the engineering off of new projects like the PCC wiring and Consolidation adjustments. It looks like we thought the cutting of the tang would resove the problem and if it is determined it doesn't then we will deal with it.

2008-09-26 - Jonathan Polk states:

New photos of a new engineering version of the Consolidation engine. The Consolidation is due out in early 2009.

2008-10-01 - Lewis states:

Dear All,

Just to confirm that the pictured version is a first test shot from completed molds. Adjustments need to be made, electrical boards, switches, paint schemes, directions, packaging and life testing all need to be done yet. However, the good news is that the drive system is pre-tested on the Mallet and this is usually the toughest design component. The smoke and gear boxes are universal with us, so it will move along fairly quickly. However, no predictions of delivery will be made until we're closer as we never know where a glitch might occur that needs time to rectify.

However, the money has been spent to make the molds, so you know it's real and it behooves us to make it come to market as quickly as possible. We promised not to pre-announce anything unless the molds are done or are about to be finished. This fits our guidelines.

All the best,
Lewis Polk

2008-10-08 - Lewis explains about design complete and other details:

Dear All,

The blind wheels definitely will touch the rail as does our C-16. Also, John will post later that the Consolidations had different counterweight sizes on almost every wheel. We have pictures confirming this and will post them this afternoon.

The fact is that the Consolidation was designed flawlessly by our experts and all attempts to denigrate this great loco even before it's produced is ill founded. There are some quirky things about the loco and we captured them carefully. Premature discussions of flangeless locos is not applicable here and we are moving ahead with the loco as planned.

This was a major expense that we would not have taken on if we weren't sure we could do it right. So..........were getting a lot of chatter about our new product and that's good. However, no one has pointed out anything that we did that wasn't prototypical and that would hurt the operation of the loco.If you want flanged wheels they will be available on day one, so we have accommodated all users.I expect that there are more indoor users with tight radius track than represented on this forum. Why did LGB (a trademark of Marklin) have a 4' rule that all of their locos had to run on this diameter track? Our flangeless wheel choice is in the same ilk as their flexing chassis, yet if you want to change the wheels it will be easy. I know that calmer heads will prevail and the type of wheel will not be a decider on whether or not you purchase this great lcoo.

It's a great effort and is a forward move in the design of G Gauge trains. The plug n play in the tender along with battery capability makes this a loco that all will enjoy for many years to come.

All the best,
Lewis Polk

2008-10-23 - Lewis reinforces ordering flanged drivers for consolidation:

Dear All,

I'm going with a long list, but here are a few highlights:

1. All locomotive wheels to a new NEM standard flanges-gauges and be un-plated.
2. Battery capability for everything we make.
3. Rolling stock under floor orientation. Also, the posts are now fixed for all future production, so we need to inspect this. Somethings just take time at a factory with 12.000 workers and a dozen buildings or so. The MKT cars were an interim production and new production is changed already.
4. Track pricing based on sudden new lower costs. Of course we have a huge order placed and rail purchased when prices were at a peak.We have a 6 month lead time and prices just came down in the last 30 days.
5. New frog for the wide radius switch
6. Order new PCC trolley spare truck when production begins of the trolley itself and the same for the flanged wheels for the Consolidation.
7. New see through packaging for rolling stock with a cake box lift off method like the 2-bay cars.
8. Check on delivery of the remote slow motion switch machine.
9. Check new 0-4-0 steamer before approving production.
10. Put plugs on all std.hvy.wht. cars in future.
11. Add syringe for filling smoke boxes in future.
12. Upgrade 0-4-0 to new gear box style for 2009 production.
13. Change PCC chassis to include plug 'n play socket.

There's much more, but this will give you an insiders view of our planning.

All the best,
Lewis Polk

2008-11-01 - Lewis Polk announces consolidation in 2009

In the works, but not delivered yet are a new body mount "Kuppler" that will allow 5' diameter curve operation, the Consolidation, the PCC trolley, a 50' PS-5277 modern box car, an SW-1 diesel, roadbed, new flex track and an accompanying rail bender, re-railers and the hugely expensive project of the new WIFI R/C system. So........will the economy support our aggressive growth expenditures or not? It remains to be seen, but these projects are all committed to. The R&D is done and we are cutting steel on these projects, so I feel comfortable in announcing these projects here. Do not ask when they will arrive as I can't even guess now. They will all come within 2009 as production schedules can be arranged.

2008-11-18 - Lewis Polk "no negatives, only positives" on purchase of Sanda Kan by KAder:

Dear All,

Another key point is the return of Mr. W.S. Ting to the Sanda Kan fold. He is a Model Train Hall of Fame member in the U.S. and ran Sanda Kan from it's inception. Mr. Ting knows how to get Sanda Kan operating at it's peak and as Sanda Kan is being kept separate will have a full say in restoring it's best days. This is as good as it gets for the customers of Sanda Kan and the consumers who buy Lionel, Atlas, LifeLike, Aristo-Craft, USA, Brawa, Hornby and partials for 50 other train makers.

No negatives and only positives on this new development. Price changes have been mostly due to the American dollar depreciation of which only government policies can account for.

All the best,

Lewis Polk

2008-12-05 - Lewis Polk announces consolidation in 2009

Aristo-Craft has had a unbroken streak of successful new product introductions:

SD-45

Dash 9

E-8

Gp-40

Mallet

C-16 Rebuild

(All with the new work horse gear boxes and new smoke systems)

2-Bay Coal Hopper

Dbl.Door 40 Box Car

Plug Door 40’ Box Car

Evans 53’ Box Car

100 Ton Coal Hopper

2-8-0 Consolidation (Coming next year, but shown already)

Switching Power Supplies with 110/230v selectable

The Train Engineer w/10 frequencies and soon the Revolution

2009-04-01 - No consolidation yet

Dear All,

Boy do things get lost in the translation. The product shown at the York Show is the final version from the molds. These are test shots, not hand built models and the molds are made already. What you see is what you're going to get. The question is in the marketing. These are terrible economic times for many people, so do we release the product during the downturn or wait for an upturn in the economy?

A legitimate question for anyone in business and this is a business, not our hobby. Timing is everything and we will make the Consolidation as soon as possible in the normal course of business. We're just not rushing it to market at breakneck speed.

We don't need your pre-orders to make the product or not, but Jack was trying to give us an incentive to rush into production, not whether to make it or not. Some half informed people try to jump to conclusions without knowing the background of the question.

In the H.O. market your dealer will not get any new product if they haven't pre-ordered, just ask them. It would be great if that was to work in G, but it doesn't. If you place a non-deposit order with your favorite dealer who then in return placed an order with us it would make things easier, but the G Gauge dealers do not advance order anything and we still have a huge investment bet already placed. That's just the way it is. It's not like we are soliciting direct order commitments and charging your credit card in advance. We did that for the Revolution only to get some Beta Tester comments before making the mass run of product and then trying to change it after we got feedback. Our delay there was to get the FCC approval even on our receiver. Does anyone wonder why some other radio makers in G Gauge have not bothered to do this? We did not hit anyone's charge card until the product was here to ship and we needed to check the validation of the cards.

I'm locking this thread as it's not related to support for Aristo-Craft Trains.

All the best,
Lewis Polk

2009-05-14 - Lewis gives status:

Dear All,

We just received a revised Consolidation sample and will try to get a picture up to the website soon. Also, the first club car, the Navy version will be pictured shortly too. The Consolidation is still an engineering sample for the mold revisions, not a painted finished sample.

All the best,
Lewis Polk

2009-05-19 - Lewis has the PCC and the Consolidation by the end of the year 2009

Dear All,

We have gone ahead with a major steam locomotive project at a time when no one else is doing a mass produced G gauge steam locomotive product. It will probably sell for under $500 over the counter and is a brilliant rendition of the full size train.

Don't forget the PCC trolley will also come by the end of the year, so we are moving ahead. Yes. we're cautious, but understandably so. Though the hobbyist will buy the product we need to be paid by the dealers who actually place the orders with us. That's a reality of the marketplace at this time and we have been successful on that front. We were nervous about a worse potential later in the year, but I think it has bottomed and will start back up now. Therefore, it's full steam ahead!!!!!

All the best,
Lewis Polk

2009-05-20 - Lewis states mold changes complete

Dear All,

This Consolidation was modeled on the B&O E-27 Class and
it's near the NYC G-46 class as well. The molds are made based
on the engineering drawings we were given. The mold sizes can't
be modified at this point without totally re-doing the molds.

Details and accessories could be changed, but we are now done with
our mold changes. I will try to get a copy of the original
drawings we used, but our engineers said there is no variation
from that real one. There were many thousand such locomotives
made in the real world and I'm sure that most were different
from each other.

All the best,
Lewis Polk

2009-05-21 - Lewis responds with "products delivered":

Dash 9
E-8
C-16 upgrade
Doodlebug
#6 Switch
Stainless Steel Track
Smoke system
Gear Box with ball bearings and triple size gears
Three axle powered motor block
New 2 axle giant motor gear box
Mallet
Rail Clamps with top side extra large screws
RDC
Revolution R/C
Elite switching power supply
Speakers built in to most locomotives
Dbl.Door and Plug Door 40' Box Cars
2-Bay Hopper
53' Evans Box Car
100 ton hopper
90 Degree crossing
Wye switch
Consolidation upcoming, but molds done
PCC Trolley, upcoming, but with molds done
The ECLSTS, which is now the world's biggest G Gauge show
Our standard Train Engineer used trackside or in a trailing car with 10 frequencies.
Streamliner upgrades

2009-05-22 - Lewis Polk responds about no "Pacific locos available"

No, it's not true and will be re-ordered next year. We need the marketplace to sell through and it's starting to, so we will make more in 2010. We knew the Consolidation was coming and felt the two would cannibalize dollars from each, so first the Consolidation and then the Pacific. The Mikado is more questionable as to when we will re-make that one.

All the best,
Lewis Polk

2009-05-28 - Samples at Califormia BTS (June 2009) - Final samples (molds) are approved

Dear All,

We are now in the process of designing the socket for the Consolidation tender. Don't forget that we now get double the pickup power with full pick up from the tender and we are using 8 wires to get the power to the motor and lights. Not all of the wires will be the same size and the motor leads will be of higher capacity. The set up will be similar to the C-16, but with 2 extra wires. It's not designed fully yet, so we can't give full details at this time. When the final board samples arrive I will post a picture. The motor in the Consolidation is twice the size of the C-16 and the power needs are different due to the draw differences.

The timing of new items is based on the capabilities of our dealers to pay for the locos within the normal payment terms. We have never asked for a pre-payment from the dealers or consumers, but we obviously need to judge the receivable capabilities of the marketplace from a dealer side. The dealers are our customers and they determine release times more than anything or anyone. This is a tough economy for luxury items and we need to be careful not to overload the dealer base.

The reason we're not re-running the Mikado at this time is that it will share sales with the Consolidation and not because we were disappointed with its sales. We need the Consolidation to be successful and not market share with the Mikado.

All the best,

Lewis Polk

P.S. We will have samples of the Consolidation and PCC trolleys at the Big Train Show. While the molds are now done we are working on the electronics that can't be done until we had a final approved sample as we now do.

2009-06-23 - Lewis responds to a question about 50 foot car:

Dear John,

They are on hold until we get the RDC3, PCC and Consolidation out. We're ready to start them as soon as the other 3 get on production line.

All the best,

Lewis Polk

2009-07-29 - Status update from Lewis Polk:

Our inventories are full and we’re getting new items such as the RDC-3, PCC Trolley and Consolidation over the next several months. New goods keep arriving, so this is not a closeout by any means, but is a genuine buying opportunity of fresh goods for you. We’re not selling directly to you and you must purchase from your favorite retailer, thus we’re try to motivate the entire distribution chain.

2009-08-17 - Lewis responds about lack of production of well cars:

We do have the PCC Trolley, RDC3 and the Consolidation out there with large funds invested and once those funds are recycled we will take another look.

2009-09-21 - Delivery now no longer in 2009,"just after the first of the year", first acknowledgment that delivery has slipped from the promised 2009 to 2010

Dear Paul,

The factory has an order and the artwork, but Christmas product ties them up at this time of the year. My best guess is just after the first of the year, but I don't have confirmed production date yet. I will confirm when I do.

All the best,
Lewis Polk

2009-12-01 - Lewis estimates delivery date from "just after the first of the year" 2010, to "early in the year" (about 3 month slip)

Dear All,

The schedule is the Consolidation early in the year, the Pacific in Mid-year and the Mallet in the fall.

All the best,

Lewis Polk

2010-01-25 - No mention about factory production problems - from Lewis Polk

I think 2010 will also be a positive business year as we have the PCC, RDC3 and Consolidation ready to make and others with finished drawings and R&D. Our track sales have picked up considerably, meaning more new people are entering the hobby or expanding their layouts and thus need more trains to occupy the track. Our factory has a new dedicated owner with many years experience in making model trains and have reliably started producing our products again. We will have another shipment due in announcement this week, though the perennial Chinese New Year month long vacation begins soon.

2010-02-11 - Lewis announces steam locos will be produced in 2010, no mention of when

Dear All,

Most of our larger steam locomotives are on order for delivery in 2010. This is the Pacific, Consolidation and Mallet. We continually run the Rogers and 0-4-0 and have the C-16 in stock. We will have a full complement of steam locomotives at good pricing. We'll update you as we get shipping notices during the year.

All the best,
Lewis Polk

Same thread, same day, first time delay is blamed on wiring

Dear All,

Part of the delay is that we're converting all those locos to use a port and power pickup in the tenders, which has more access for the Revolution, sound and conductivity. It sounds like a small change, but is really quite an upgrade in usability.

All the best,
Lewis Polk

2010-03-02 - Michael J says: (clearly no longer "early" 2010)

2010 Production is beginning now.

2010-03-09 - No specifics, but delays implied by Lewis:

Dear All,

We do have a 2010 price and production list we will give out in York at the end of this month. There are no dates specified as the factory is in a re-building stage with new computers, staff and management.

When the goods are on the order we will tell you, but we will picture early engineering samples as we get them.

All the best,
Lewis Polk

2010 - 4th quarter -sometime first quarter 2011bably sometime in 2010

PCC - 1:29 trolley car - no idea

"Sorry! No [delivery] date yet as we're redesigning to get a DCC port in it if possible." - Lewis Polk, forum, 9/24/2008
delayed to design brake light
delayed to to supply of special part for brake light circuit
went "off the radar" mid 2010, was supposed to be next out, but RDC-3 beat it
coming in 2011

Lastly - the ugly - promised many times and just gone (off the radar, no mentions or promises)

Aristo Kuppler - this is ugly because it was promised and even touted as a"standard" and then a small production run made, and now nothing

Announced in 2008, it was to appear 2009
In July 2009, Lewis said the engineer working on it was sick and maybe by the end of the year.
In August 2009 it was noted for Thanksgiving.
There were 6 sets each sent to dealers about February 2010 I was able to buy 2 sets of them.
At the March 2011 ECLSTS, Tom Parkins asked Lewis Polk about the Kuppler, "He says that it is back to the design board for more improvements. There is no time frame for a release."

Originally described as a new body mount coupler that was not compatible with Aristo or Kadee, a few months later, the picture below picture was shown with it coupled to a Kadee, and a reference that the original "misdirection" was tavoid legal stuff. Seems suspicious since the Kadee HO patents have expired, and making a coupler that works well with Kadee is now a possibility.

In the picture above, the coupler on the left is the Aristo "Kuppler" and the coupler on the right is a G scale Kadee #830, the standard body mount coupler.

Apparently it will be available in a body mount but has no draft gear action like a Kadee. Lewis Polk notes that these are not usable for 4' and 5' diameter track. (Originally it was posted by Lewis that it would work on 5' diameter, 11/1/2008)

(Of course on 11/14/2008, there was this post:

"Dear All,

We are hard at work at a new body mount "Kuppler" that is different than the rest. It is not a Kadee compatible coupler, but has super pulling strength and can manuever 5' diameter curves.It's original thinking and I hope it will find a place on your railroad. Obviously, you will need transition cars if you want to use our coupler along with others, but we will include it on our new 50' PS 5277 box car.

When I have a finished version I will picture it here, but it may be serveral weeks more.

All the best,
Lewis Polk"

There are 2 mounting holes in the back, and apparently a jig will be supplied to drill the mounting holes. Below is one of the original pictures from Aristo, the Kuppler on the left, Kadee G scale 830 on the right.

In April 2, 2010, I ordered 2 pairs from Trains West in Albuquerque, and sent them to R.J. DeBerg to see how they work. The couplers are still not in production, but some samples were made and distributed to some dealers and individuals.

I have some misc. data that we will check out: One prominent product reviewer states that there is 3/16 of vertical slop at the end of the coupler, and that it does not mate well the the older style Aristo couplers. Without the "override plate" as on the original coupler, that does not bode well.

The price of one pair of couplers was $10. That's just plain nuts, Kadees are less and come with draft gear, and their quality is legendary.

Update: Stan sent me some pictures (my couplers have not arrived yet) and the Kupplers do indeed have the "override plate". This makes the vertical coupler "slop" a non-issue once the cars are coupled. This is an important feature when the height of the coupler is not rigidly controlled.

Re: mounting, Stan Cedarleaf states:

"They come completely apart and the "tongue" can be turned over and the knuckle itself can be inverted to accommodate a number if different situations. I've body mounted a few sets on Aristo box car and on Bachmann's.

For the Bachmann cars, I turn the "tongue" 180 degrees, invert the knuckle and screw them on the Bachmann underframe. They don't quite match up to the "stringers" but with some "creative" drilling, they work just fine for me."

I'll report back after RJ and I have taken a shot at them.The cost seems high still. The biggest benefit may be the body mounting and not pulling apart under stress. The biggest downside is high cost and no remote uncoupling, and vertical alignment when coupling (but I need to test this last one).

USA Knuckles
These are just OK in my opinion. I don't have a lot of experience using them. I have about 50 USAT cars, and I converted them all to Kadee right away. Most people who standardize on them have bought mostly USAT cars. Most reports are that they work well enough, you need to operate them manually. They do not work super well with other knuckle couplers. They seem to "age" well. I found the mechanism to be sometimes "sticky" and the big problem is that they are not at the "standard" height that other manufacturers seem to follow (the Kadee gauge).

No reliable remote uncoupling.

Consolidation (steam) - promised early 2010 (here because it is in reference to something off the radar)

"1 year after sparkie", per Lewis in forum 9/2/2008

2-4-2 Rogers Live steam - was promised late summer early fall 2008 - no update since 12/22/2007

"The 0-4-0 is due this summer, 2-4-2 is due late summer/early fall.", George Adams, Aristo forum, 12/22/2007

GG-1 - postponed (good!)

"postponed"
to be fair, even though it was shown in several catalogs, this was a poor idea, and a good thing that Aristo did not make one. There seems to be an "East Coast" prototype mentality, but another GG-1 would have poor sales and be expensive, not to mention requiring broad curves, so it would not work for a lot of people.

SD9 - promised many times, even has an ART number, shown for years on the St. Aubins sale page

never made, but advertised by St. Aubins, ART-23500 series
Aristo now says it will never make it, probably because of the (never ending requests)

Streamliners - lowered with interior detail and led lighting - promised mid 2008, they made only one run, ATSF around beginning of 2008, second run PRR only, arrived October 2008

in 2007 catalog, shows new production style with interiors, ball bearings, lowered
promised mid 2008 by Lewis in forum 6/3/2007
6 road names shown on advertisement of Garden Railways
Only ATSF were made, no other road names
"We ran lowered streamliners with led lighting, ball bearing races and seated passengers.", Lewis, 9/2/2008, this is the thread where Lewis also says: "We work off of reservations made by our customers ......... the dealers. We do not need one to one orders, but an indication there is an interest. So far the interest in other than ATSF streamliners is minimal and so we wait. Place an order with your dealer and let him place an order with us and you will see the product. No interest ....no product as we don't have room here to keep product hoping for some interest."

I have to insert a comment here: that is an unbelievable statement, throwing the blame of not making more roadnames back on the dealers.

In October 2008, the in stock list showed a PRR set of streamliners, this is apparently the second run of the new ones, after the ATSF at around the beginning of the year. Apparently Aristo is dribbling these out one road name at a time every 10 months or so.

Streamliners - Interior and/or lowering kits for old streamliners - has not happened, promised (effectively) twice, latest promise is no later than early 2009.

"The next time we run Streamliners we will make kits, It will be sometime next year once the current run sells out." , Lewis, 6/3/2007
"The next time we do run these we will run some lighting kits or early next year either way", Lewis, Aristo forum, 9/4/2008
So, the "next time" has come and gone twice, early 2008 ATSF, October 2008 PRR, and still no kits to update older cars.

Streamliners - smoothside dome/diner - no dates

here's some part numbers:

- 33306 Coach (not in stock) - will it be re-issued?
- 33406 Observation (not in stock) - will it be re-issued?
- 33506 Baggage (new) - promised in new products (was old full dome #)
- 33606 Dome/Diner (new) - promised in new products
- These were from the "2008 New Item List", a word documents posted by Lewis on 1/3/2008.

advertised in the 2007 catalog
"Yes, we will bring back the older ones too with interiors like we did with the smoothsides. The engineering designs are done for the new ones, but our plate is pretty full and I can't give you a date right now. Whats required our stamping tools, not molds per se, but there is a lot of work to do. When it's imminent I'll comment here.", Lewis, Aristo forum, 1/4/2008
"We are working on a Dome/Diner combination, but it will not be a full dome length.", Lewis, Aristo forum, 1/29/2008

SW1500 switcher:

EMD SW1500 switcher, ART-22400, as identified in the Aristo-Craft Trains 1996 Catalog "1996 New Products" section on page 54.

"all purpose" well cars (european)

in development 2007 catalog
mentioned on the forum that they would considerUS sales/prototype

Tank cars, new road names:

Promised and in the 2008 catalog:

GATX

2. UTLX

3. General Molasses

4. Stauffer Chemical

5. Corn Industrial

6. Redpath

7. BCR

8. BA Oil

Gordon,

Due to a factory move early this year, some of the 2008 planned projects have been delayed.

The group of tank cars you ask about are not yet on the production list.

I will post road numbers when these items are nearer production time.

Michael J
Aristo forum 11/20/08, Michael J.

Back to back gauge is meaningless:

http://www.aristocraft.com/vbulletinforums/showthread.php?t=12058

http://www.mylargescale.com/Community/Forums/tabid/56/aff/11/aft/81353/afv/topic/Default.aspx

Supreme doubletalk:

Streamliners: No one made enough reservations for streamliners so we did not make them: (post #21)

"Dear All,

We work off of reservations made by our customers ......... the dealers. We do not need one to one orders, but an indication there is an interest. So far the interest in other than ATSF streamliners is minimal and so we wait. Place an order with your dealer and let him place an order with us and you will see the product. No interest ....no product as we don't have room here to keep product hoping for some interest.

All the best,
Lewis Polk"

http://www.aristocraft.com/vbulletinforums/showthread.php?t=9796&highlight=ball+bearing+races&page=3

SD9: We don't work from reservations, so we did not make the SD9: (post #14)

"Dear Raymond,

We don't sell on a reservation basis and it's unlikely we would ever reach the several thousand pieces that we need to invest in this project.

We have a priority for some smaller locomotives that pushed this aside and when we feel some larger diesels will sell briskly we will re-consider.

All the best,
Lewis Polk"

http://www.aristocraft.com/vbulletinforums/showthread.php?t=16591&page=2