REVIEW: MiniTrix AE 8/14 #12426

With so many wheels, this locomotive seems to have issues on switches and poor track.  It's a bit finicky.  It has lots of pull however, being two locomotives permanently paired together.  The DCC install was easy, a standard NEW 6 pin plugs right in.  Electrical details on the roof look great, as does the external transmission mechanism and all the windows.  Overall, this locomotive has great presence on the layout.  I recommend it, provided you're confident in your layout build quality.  It runs flawlessly on my layout now, but only after much careful debugging.  In some ways owning this locomotive serves a forcing function, in that it's a trouble spot detector!  

Mechanically it's a little noisy, but that seems fitting for it's subject.  

The images below show weathering, as applied by me. 

The manufacturer says:

Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) class Ae 8/14. Built starting in 1931. Used for heavy freight trains on the Gotthard route. The rail lines in Switzerland with their grades, tunnels, bridges, and curves are a special challenge for the locomotives that travel over them. Mastering the 240 kilometer / 150 mile Gotthard line in demanded extraordinarily powerful locomotives over the years. The Crocodile freight locomotive became famous on this line but the largest and most powerful locomotives were the class AE 8/14 electric locomotives. They were developed in the 1930s just for the demanding requirements of this steeply graded line. Each of these double locomotives had a weight of 240 metric tons. The 8 traction motors for the locomotive gave a starting tractive effort of 50 metric tons and an hourly output of 7,500 horsepower that was transmitted by the proven Buchli drive system from the Ae 4/7.

The locomotive has a die-cast metal frame, with a digital connector, one motor for each locomotive half, 8 powered axles, a close coupling between both locomotive halves and a close coupler mechanism at both ends. Length over the buffers 212 mm / 8-3/8".

UPDATE 1/10/15:  this locomotive is one of two that I own that constantly derails on my layout.  It has trouble with points, the small running wheels on either end go off very easily, I suspect because there is very little weight keeping them down on my thin code 55 rail.   I hope to once again slowly debug all the issues I've apparently introduced with my ballasting but I must say this locomotive is quite a pain.   Still, I love how it looks!