Gerard Huet has updated his webpage, now showing a movie clip of a working BN SW1 and the announcement that prices will increase by Feb 01.
I have been staying clear of this thread for... for I do not have interest in his products, especially since Lajos is set to make same/similar switchers. [my 2 cents] But to increase price after all the whoop-lah!!! I am confused!!! Where are the personal accounts of how these little babies are going to run? I'm curious in how this thread will continue!!! signed, Bewildered!
Hahaha, He decided to put now a golden-white led instead of the blue one, for sure they are more expensive. :thumbs_down:
Has anyone even received theirs (that ordered one)? I still no of no one that actually received their item...
Myself I dropped "a bottle in the sea" about these switchers in two french-spoken forums I'm a member of, dealing with your issues, guys... Of course I got no reply but maybe these updatings on his website are a result.... I used a pretty upset tone as I understand the anger many of you begin to have against this absolute absence of communication. Dom
There are some technical issues too. On the video clips the locomotives are running on straight track, and looks like the truck side frames are fairly close to the wheels. According to Gerard Huet, the front and rear wheels are on "pony truck", like leading and trailing wheels of Marklin steam locomotives. To follow radiuses, the "pony truck" need to swing, and requires a pretty good size clearance between the truck side frames. I used to spend some time to study the rigid frame options of switchers, playing with the concepts of pivoting and sideway sliding wheels, and rejected them for obvious reasons. The required clearance is so huge, the truck frames become extremely wide, out of proportion. I'm really interested about how the Huet switchers will run on 195 mm radius, and how they'll handle various switches. Something to think about... To help, here is my old diagram.
I'll do kits, but looks like there is a growing assembly and finish "industry", so I'm sure the RTRs will be widely available.
Lajos, if they are like are like you lower diagram, they will be "under" gauged, shorting on bridge gaurd rails and turnouts.
The drawings, when I played with various options had nothing to do with Gerard Huet's switchers. Back then, because I was not thrilled with the flangless wheels, I wanted to see, how the various concepts work (or not) with rigid chassis. It's a coincidence, Gerard Huet picked the pivoting wheel concept. Actually it could work, if the wheel bracket is linked to a "hinged" track side frame assembly to maintain a small clearance, but it's a kind of silly and complicated. Anyway, he is facing some problems, unless goes back to the good old flangless wheels. I could be wrong, time will tell.
Huet Switchers Arrive--Worth the Wait Today my CN and CP switchers arrived, and I can say the following, though I haven't tested them yet on curves or through switches.... On DC they are functional, with directional lights and very good pulling power--no electrical connection problems beyond the usual initial warming up stutters. Once warmed up, they are as smooth as AZL and FR locomotives. For DCC operation I'll have to rely on the video on the Huet website, which does show one engine in DCC mode. Detail is excellent for Z scale, as good as and even better than some commercial N scale products. There are, for example, Canadian rerailers on both the CP and CN engines--usually a superdetail. The CN has, as promised, the correct spark arrestor up top. Grab irons and rails are accurately painted and straight. There are windshield wipers. Decals are straight and the paint finish is very good; my one qualm is that the paint on the CP cab differs from the paint on the rest of the body, though this is detectable only in bright flourescent light (some careful weathering will take care of the discrepancy). I'd say that they were well worth the cost. Certainly they have as good detail as FR and brass AZL engines, which is a high standard. They come packaged in wooden boxes.:tb-biggrin:
It's a good news. Looks like a bit of pressure helped. Keep us updated about the performance. Regardless, I'm still planning to compete.
Hi Brian, any further review or info about the switcher you like to share with us, especially how it goes to curves and switches?
A small (and bad quality, sorry) video of a Pennsylvania SW1 switcher running on curves (MTL small radius). This SW1 is for a swiss modeler. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyufYAlz_8A Another SW1, not on curves, but with sound. This SW1 is for a german modeler. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yGVhO2Y8G0&feature=related For information : I have tried the 4 rigid axles option : it does't work on small radius / the front axles have a too great angle with the rails. The solution with pony trucks gives a better angle between the wheels and the rails.
Bringing this thread back to the top... Has anyone else received their switcher? Am I the only person STILL waiting?