I Finally Got the MTH Triplex Steam Engine!!! 

Steamzilla!!! Yes!!!

It's like godzilla but instead of king of the monster's it's the king of steam engines.

I suspect the reason it would've been so slow irl is because of all the heavy reciprocating parts and how long it would've taken for steam to make it through the whole cycle.

@@whispofwords2590 The Triplex boiler just couldn't make enough steam. An engine that was good in theory but poor in execution. But an interesting footnote in locomotive history.

I like that. STEAMZILLA!! lol 😂 Cory Mears

That's what I've said!! Chris could easily pass for Jim's younger brother, complete with their animated facial expressions. Chris here has a tremendous amount of natural entertainment talent.

I WAS THINKING THE SAME THING HE DOES LOOK LIKE JIM CAREY.

I blame Jason, haha!

TREVOR HARRIS TripOd TOTNES TORQUAY

I would like to have one of those eventually. Thanks for watching!

Thanks for watching Chuck!

Wow, that TMS video is one of my favorites. Gary

I've got the first of the TM "Great MTH Layouts." Even after all this time I'm still impressed with Tony Lash's layout, a real work of art!

@@TheTrainboard who’s Gary?

@Railchief 74 I'm Gary. My son and I, train guys from way back, are starting a new o gauge youtube channel based around our new trainboard and our railfan videos. Just hope we can consistently produce the quality shots and consistently special effort on this channel. Gary

I was wondering about the Trainmaster direction. The newer models print the "F" on the front to help folks like me who do not know much about prototypical operation. But this Post War version does not have that so I had to guess. Thanks for clarifying!

Thanks for watching Nathan and sharing your story!

Thank you Simkins Frank!!

Thank you and welcome aboard SERGIp51D! I am with you 100%! I remember being a kid in the 90's and looking at the catalogs just dreaming of running these one day. Thanks for watching!

@@RBPTrains Hey, I remember being a kid in 1959 and wanting the same engine Casey Jones had on the TV series starring Alan Hale Junior! Now I've got six! 😃

It's nice to see a very realistic model of a steam locomotive moving and a history lesson sprinkled in

Thanks for watching! I suppose you are referring to the lack of caboose on the Trainmaster at the end of the video?? Wasn't sure if it was acceptable to run that one with a caboose since I was using my Post War Erie Caboose on the Triplex train as an Easter Egg in the video. Noted for the future! :)

Thanks Geno and welcome aboard!!

I think the Camelback engines are great. Plus you can run them anywhere! Enjoy your new engine Kevin!

Vision Line Big Boy is the reigning champ for sure!

Thank you @Connorado!

If I get a wind of another one, I will keep ya posted, haha. Thanks for watching!

Thank you Bob!

I have a feeling we will see the Triplex again very soon... :)

How to buy

Thanks for watching @FlyingSpirit!

@creeperboy2021 I have the early Triplex from around 2004 obviously with the PS3 which actually functions just fine. For some time I've been watching for a PS3 upgrade board for it but they're not available. Do you know when MTH will be releasing such boards for the Triplex?

​@@ralphmiller2265 how to buy

Thank you Henk!

Must have been incredible to see. But even more incredible to hear your Dad's stories working on the Erie during the days of steam. Thanks for watching!

MTH showed an HO Triplex in their 2008 catalog, basically a "Look what's coming!" feature in what was an O Gauge catalog. However whether they actually built any I don't know, I'm not an HO guy and haven't looked into MTH HO products or their availabilities at all. So there MAY be some out there or maybe not. You'd have to do some checking.

Thanks Glenn! I have a Weaver Hiawatha that is equipped with MTH Protosound (first generation) but not sure I have any conventional engines with MTH Loco Sound. Might need to snag one eventually just to experience it!

I couldn't run a Virginian train and ignore the famous Post War Trainmaster, haha! Thanks for watching James!

Trainmaster is awesome. I always run Post War and other vintage trains any time I can, especially between my review videos. Thanks for watching Joey!

No doubt about it, Chris's videos are broadcast quality, no other way to describe them.

it is. That's why those things usually pushed the trains from behind

@Joan Aguayo Planell thank you for correcting me.

Most coupler breakage and drawbar pullouts are at starting and sudden changes of speed.

Thanks Guss! Found this one at Trainz

Quite true, most of it anyway. The Triplex was really a case of "Too much, too soon." It was an attempt to put as much power under one engineer's hand as possbile once the Mallet concept was pretty much perfected. Theoretically it could have handled a train five miles long. Maybe if the couplers could have held together but the Triplex's boiler just coudn't make enough steam for any practical speed over 5 MPH. So they were relegated to pusher service at least long enough for the Erie (and presumeably the Virginian) to get their money's worth out of them. A history of Baldwin locomotives says the Baldwin designers figured in loss of traction on the tender drivers as the coal and water weights diminished. OK, if they say so.

Thanks to anyone who liked my comment. I meant to say vertical headlight, but I accidentally skipped the letter L. I just saw it and fixed it. Thanks again for liking the comments. Cory Mears

I seriously question just how bad the slipping issue on the rear drivers was, or how much of a deal breaker it was. Garratt Locomotives would have had the exact same issue given their configuration, and while they weren't used in the US (the exact reason for which I have never been able to find an answer), it didn't stop those locomotives from being used on heavy trains and dealing with stiff grades in the places they were used. As for the Cylinders, the Triplex was indeed a compound locomotive. The reason the cylinders are the same size is because it had 2 high pressure and 4 low pressure cylinders, with 1 high pressure cylinder feeding into 2 low pressure cylinders. Granted, to make full use of the low pressure steam, the cylinders would have needed to be a bit bigger, but not anywhere close to what you see on a Mallet type engine with the enormous low pressure cylinder and a relatively small high pressure one. All cylinders being the same size would work decently enough. The main problem with the Triplex was it's inability to keep steam up, even though the boiler was only feeding two cylinders. This wasn't because the boiler was too small (it was still massive, after all), but because it basically had asthma. The exhaust blasts so common on steam locomotives are important to their function, as they create a vacuum in the smokebox and help pull air into the firebox, which massively boosts the heat output of the fire. On the Triplex however, the steam from the rear low pressure cylinders was exhausted out of a separate blast pipe instead of the smokestack, which (combined with the fact the steam was low pressure to begin with) made for rather anemic boiler drafting conditions. A draft fan, or routing the exhaust from the rear cylinders to the smokestack instead, could have solved that issue.

You are right, I should have sounded that classic horn, haha! Thanks for watching

I wish that there would be a modell of the hungarien 'Big Boy' (yes, that was the name of the class 601). No samples of the realone survived, nor anyone made a modell after them...

@@danielbedrossian5986 any fotos??

@@MrStevesTrains , wdym? There are some black and white photos, you can easly find them under the designarion 'class 601', for better results write 'MÁV' (Hungarian State Railroad).

Ah yes, the Mercury would be a good one. Thank you for you support Zach!!

Thanks southwind73! With everything going on out there, this hobby gives us all a little escape from the real world.

Haha! I feel like it almost is at this point

As popular as these engines seem to be, you would think they might be offered more. We shall see. Thanks for watching!

Thank you Joe for your support! The Hobby is one of those things that gives us all a little distraction from the real world. I appreciate the kind words!