agreed-
Rich what a great collection of FRR items!-those two tall sided brown items look like hartland peices with double walls-ie stacked to make the ore style bin-and thats a very handsome loco you won-it should come , i think, if still complete , with a sticker sheet of various builders "plate" ie Deutz , orenstein, etc to put on the loco
imho these items including the loco greatly benefit from lubrication-i use teflon grease on the belt and it makes them a bit quieter, and i too lube the wheels
5 up an incline is what concerns me-
simply, it wont kill the loco immediately , but enough running and you will probably have the same issue as did the original poster with his purchase (FWIW the very same type of wear happens to overloaded stainz-but it takes a lot more because both axels connect with worms instead of only one -i know because i bought one on ebay a while back, not knowing it had been hauling cinder blocks or the like....-but obviously parts are a lot easier to obtain-or a new loco for that matter)
i think the issue is how much of an incline and how long you will be running -and that the cars are empty
i HAVE run, in the past, 3-5 GF gondolas or open observation bench cars behind chloe or olomano or the diesel-at my peril-and up (and down again-ad nauseum) a 1-2 % incline-but typically only half an hour tops at any given session-i no longer do this because i really love the little locos and want them to last
i think 5 on the flat, on clean track, probably no issues if you dont make it a habit, and R1s do add a good deal of drag-which means wear as well-broader will reduce wear as well, even with the closely coupled little FRR stock
the flip side to this is that the steam locos will slip and i bet they slip before the gear takes any bruising-
mine will slip with 3-4 cars on a slight incline, starting on the incline
the diesel is another story
the more sensible alternative
-remove the stock huge weight under the bonnet and use a more modest weight-let it slip, and, reduce the weight the drive train has to move simply in the diesel itself
some peoplle report removing the skates really helps the loco-and does not effect electrical pick up-i would think this OK on all but dirty outside track
i think the simple answer is if you love the loco -treat it delicately and you will have very long service with no hassle or expense of finding parts
in speaking with guys at LGBOA some time back, they too were adamant about 2 cars max-despite the catalog depictions to the contrary-i presume they knew of what they spake
