Mallet 2.4.4.2

Ed -

I don't believe any commercial version of an HO 2-4-4-2 has been available in about a decade. I think it was Sunset that last offered one, a combination cast & brass version, at around $300. There were other, all brass models, further back in time but these unusually have a higher price tag. Check eBay from time to time.

John

The one Brian is talking about was marketed in the late 1980's through about 1990 or so, by Oriental Limited in the USA. It was available through Walthers, if you have access to one of their catalogs of the era.

The Brass one was imported by Gem, and dates from the mid 1960's.

Don

Look for a Powerhouse "Little River" style 2-4-4-2. Die cast boiler, and Samhongsa running gear. Will negotiate incredibly short radius (about 10" R) curves. I wouldn't part with mine for love nor money.

Brian

I think there were several releases of this. I have one of the original ones. Later models had a can motor and supposedly ran better.

Because of the complex mechanism, these can be very touchy to get running well, but they are 'way cool' when you get them running right. (I had mine remotored. They were unable to change the gearing, but they did upgrade the motor and add DCC.)

dave

An additional word of advice, Ted. Most of the 2-4-4-2 HO locomotives being cited here are now very old. Many of the brass ones have never been out of their boxes. Unless the model has been maintained and in-service recently on somebody's layout the odds are it is not going to run well, or at all, when you get it. Only the late runs of the somewhat mediocre Mantua mallets have much of a chance of working well right out of the box. I would hope that you have some experience in properly servicing such a model before expending a lot of cash buying one and attempting to run it.

John

Hey...

I bought one of the brass ones at a train show - for $400. I got it to run, after many travails, but not very well. Since then, I found one of the Oriental "Powerhouse" (1990-ish) versions on Ebay, and it runs great. I've converted it to DCC and enjoy it quite a bit.

Meanwhile, the old Brass one (probably older than I am) got Ebayed. Lucky for me, I got my money back out of it. Go fig.

If you keep your eyes open, and search on Powerhouse, you might just find one. (I've seen about four more for sale in the past six months, so they do seem to show up regularly.)

YMMV, Nemo

There were several versions of the Little River 2-4-4-2. Akane made one of the first and Gem followed with a few versions. I had an older Gem and it required a lot of work for it to run well. About a year ago I purchased the Oriental Limited version on E-bay for $350. It runs very well. My advice is to try to get the Oriental Limited version and stay away from the Gem and Akane versions.

Steve