We ran the 1935 Twin Cities Hiawatha on our Milwaukee, Racine, and Troy club layout. This HO scale model from Fox Valley Models includes the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific (Milwaukee Road) locomotive and passenger cars. We installed a Train Control Systems DP5 Digital Command Control (DCC) decoder in the locomotive. You can read a full review in the February 2011 Model Railroader.
Video: Fox Valley Models HO scale Hiawatha passenger train
By Angela Cotey | January 10, 2011
| Last updated on November 3, 2020
Watch this HO scale Hiawatha passenger train from Fox Valley Models run on the Model Railroader club layout
Have a brass Hiawatha-it (the locomotive) can only pull 3 of the brass cars. While it looks good the cars/train need help (except down hill). All brass-heavy heavy heavy.
Love the looks of the new Hiawatha set. Correct me if I am wrong but did not some of these cars find their way to the North Coast Hiawatha that was powered by a 4-6-0 (#10 and 11) that was shrouded like the 4-4-2’s (#1.2.3 & 4)?
Ditto on the wobble. That is one of the first things I look for on every steam locomotive. It seems the wobble and/or surging is related to the drive mechanism. The model 'looks' good however, if it doesn't run smoothly I will not buy. In addition, I miss the 'sound' and smoke.
Thanks for the look Dana!
I purchased this set and had it running nice.. this locomotive ran smoothly at no problem. There were two lanterns loose , one from tender and another from observation car.. one car has "dropped "coupler that needed to adjust with thin plastic level inside coupler box.. I had contacted Fox Valley Models about getting lanterns were lost when I opened the boxes..Otherwise I am pleased with this set that is hard to get and it is my favorite train set..
I love the looks, but hate the reviews. I have seond thoughts about buying.
I have a brass Pennsy 4-4-2 that "hunts" and "noses" just like some of your respondants have noted. I suspect that the four driver wheelbase is too short to keep the engine "square". Perhaps the problem could be resolved by adding more well distributed weight and doing a very precise job of quartering the drivers.
Great model I wish I could a N Scale model of the engine.
Looks great, but you should have installed a Tsunami sound decoder. I did, and looks great and sounds even better! The installation is a snap.
I would imagine that the wobbling is a side effect of the short driver wheelbase, as any side movement at the center of the loco would be amplified at both ends. Perhaps stronger spring tension on the leading and trailing trucks would help to dampen this motion.
Never did like the looks of that 4-4-2 Hiawatha loco. It looks weak and the model demonstrated in the video wobbles and bucks its way down the track. Reminds me of a 0-4-0 or 0-6-0 switch engine. The passenger cars are outstanding and the close coupling is very nice. The set would look great with a non-prototype loco like a 4-6-2 or 4-8-2 streamlined and painted as a Hiawatha. Would have liked to heard more sound from the engine.
Dana,
That Hiawatha sure looks sweet on the MR layout!
Can you tell me the name of the song and artist that accompanies the intro/
Keep up the good work!
My Hiawatha only wobbled on 1-1/2 degree and above grade after I installed a sound decoder it stopped as the anti dither was able to eliminate it. It still propoisesa a little alittle passenger weight in the cab roof and its all gone.
As for the video, use real player to down l.oad it the then share it.
Nice model, nice video -lots of time on the whole consist, lovely!
The wobble of the locomotive is clear, even on my droid phone. Again, how about stepping up to some hi def vid?
The train looks excellent and probably need a few adjustments to correct the gyrations, but the prototypes wobbled and hunted. As for Russ Princes problem, I had to load software into my PC to run some Apple aps, maybe this is something to be looked into further Russ, before raising a stink over a free forum.
Although I anxiously waited for the release of the Hiawatha, I ended up returning the whole set. The locomotive wobbled and galloped with a frequency that suggested the traction tires or drivers were not round. Very distracting. The article made no mention of this defect despite it being reported elsewhere.
A Plea to Model Railroader Magazine
Many of your subscribers are moving away from fixed position computers and moving into the new mobile computing devices such as iPhones, iPods and iPads. These devices are great for displaying video during "train nights" with friends, club nights and other model railroad events. Other media websites have figured out how to present video in a format compatible with these devices, even the mass distributors of video including YouTube and Netflix. It really disappoints me that Model Railroader does not. Some of your people I have talked to about this issue at various Midwest shows blow it all off blaming Steve Jobs for causing the problem. I don't really care about these petty I.T., anti-Apple attitudes. I do care about the fact that Model Railroader Magazine (and Trains) and probably all your publications I subscribe to are doing nothing about the problem to make your content available on these leading portable devices. Please start putting your customers wishes ahead of your I.T. staff attitudes. At 7.3 million iPads sold last quarter, There are about 5 to 6 times as many iPads sold each month as Model Railroader has annual subscriptions, and I know many of them are being sold to model railroaders. Add in another 16 million iPhones and a couple million iPod Touch devices sold last quarter alone, and it is clear that many more tens of thousands of Model Railroader subscribers are being denied access to your online video content you are not letting us view on our portable devices, and the numbers are growing bigger and bigger each month. It just makes good business sense to post your videos in a format compatible with these devices. Please consider this request carefully and with an open mind. Consider the good will it will create with your subscriber base by making your video presentations available on the new devices which are defining theses new product categories. Thanks for reading my concerns. I assure you there are many more who feel the same way.
Russ Prince
Apple Valley, MN
rprince@tcmac.com
The model looks great but as Steven says the loco does gyrate. I have three of these sets and all three locos do the same. I've contacted Matt at Fox Valley and he's looking into a solution.
It is not the traction tyres!
The engine seems to porpoise and gyrate on that initial approach shot, and the cars do not, so it's probably not the track. Perhaps some adjustments are in order, plus a little
more weight…
Lovely shots of the train moving… thanks…
I was very hopeful when I saw this set introduced. I have not evaluated the locomotive, but had a derailing problem with two cars because of warped trucks. Has anyone noted a similar situation? Any suggestions? The car bodies are beautiful.
I don't see the body gyrations, Steven, but it may be my old eyes. Regardless, this is a beautiful train, and I look forward to reading the review in MR. Thanks, Dana, for the video.
steven, I noticed the same thing on the locomotive as you did. no thanks.
GREAT NEW MODEL. LOVE IT & THE BEAUTIFULL CARS IT'S PULLING. WHAT A GREAT NAME TO GIVE IT.
KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK
THANKS
Wow Dana, what an improvement over your early videos. You are a confident professional video personality now! Beautiful train also, I'm patiently waiting for the N scale version.
The passenger cars look great – magnetic diaphragm surfaces would be a nice addition to eliminate the gap between them. The locomotive is another story though. The appearance is very good, but the body gyrations as the drivers turn is unacceptable. I can only hope it is from uneven traction tires, and not from axles that are off center.
amazing model!