This came in yesterday's mail... Neither loco ran at first, but after a few hours of fussing and cussing, both now run very well. I am once again impressed with how quiet these little Marklin locos are, and in spite of the rather high initial starting speed, they are both capable of nice low speed running, the V216 in particular. Will do some experimenting with the Marklin track, just to compare it with the MTL I've been using... Mark in Oregon
Hi Mark. Nice haul. You will find the controller frustrating after a while though. The later grey controllers that don't have a reversing switch are much more user friendly. If the turnouts are old which looking by the boxes they are you will find it beneficial to clean the contacts in the flangeways (the sprung bit where the loco picks up on the flanges)with a light rub with a fibreglass pencil to burnish them. If they get a bit sticky (the electric ones) a squirt of Servisol down the gap in the point motor with the knob sticking up soon free them up. I still use Marklin turnouts extensively in the hidden sidings on Shasta, Cuyahoga and Republic Steel and if you maintain them they work really well. Kev
Hey Kev Thanks for the insights into the Marklin track; when you said "controller", did you mean the power pack? I did clean all the straight and curved trackage, and built a little test track; it seems to work just fine. Have yet to clean the switches (#8564 and are manual, not electric) and crossovers (#8559), and will submit a full "report", if anyone's interested. I do seem to have a slight issue with the #8875; it shows an intermittent short when going in one direction only; it's fine going the other way. I'm thinking the cause is the lightbulb on that end; the contact(s) may be bent enough to be shorting against the metal frame...? Other than that it runs beautifully. Mark in Oregon
Hi Tommy "WD40"? Really? I cannot speak from my own experience, as I don't use it, but it seems to me I have read (on various forums) that the use of that product on our model trains is...shall we say..."questionable" at best. Just thought I'd mention it. Perhaps someone else can chime in on this. Mark in (smokey) Oregon
I met A z scale reseller once at a local swap meet who told me the trick. "most people get fancy when it comes to hos. just one thing you need to about wd40" he said don't run your engines tell its dry.
I would discourage WD-40 for locomotives. It will degrade rubber (as the manufacturer warns). It will also soften some types of plastic. Since we don't really know which plastics are being used for gears and worms, I prefer to avoid it. Also until it completely "dries" the vapor offers a considerable fire hazard. Mark
About Z scale motive power, one will have to use Z-scale dedicated pulse power controller. That gives really terrific low speed caracteristics. It's important to use a Z-scale dedicated controller as crest voltage (that is constant in the case of pulse power) will match Z scale recommended values. Dom
About Z scale motive power, one will have to use Z-scale dedicated pulse power controller. That gives really terrific low speed caracteristics. It's important to use a Z-scale dedicated controller as crest voltage (that is constant in the case of pulse power) will match Z scale recommended values. Dom
Dom I tested the Marklin #6727, and it works just fine; I am, however using the Rokuhan RC-02 as my "go to" power supply. I figure since it's newer technology it probably should make everything run just a bit better...(?) Mark in Oregon
