American Z Line AZL Mikado first impressions & DCC'd

I got my NKP #601 air mail this week and had to wait for a couple of days to put Cuyahoga up to give it a spin as I was spraying my next Hallmark PA conversion in NKP 'bluebird' colors. very impressed with the detail except the lack of glazing in the cab (easily sorted though)

I have done a piece on my youtube channel, basically first impressions, for the U.K modellers who might be interested in it. it will be getting a bit of hammer at the shows over the next few months!

[video=youtube;bNNYWTbZVWQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNNYWTbZVWQ&feature=share&list=UUI6p-eLL5zX3K226z27Josg[/video]

Apart from being a bit growly, which seems to be a common observation from you lot, I'm quite happy with it. Certainly a whole heap better than the Marklin one but they have done sterling service on my layouts over the last few years. I suppose in the fullness of time they'll get retired like my Marklin F7s.

Here #601 passes the coach shop at Cuyahoga as a GP7 and PA wait their next passenger turn



cheers
KEV

 

Speaking of the AZL Mikes, AZL recommands a minimum radius of 220 mm. However a friend of mine whose layout consists of minimum curves beeing r = 195 is wondering whether he may purchase one sample of this loco.

My question today: did some of you guys try an AZL Mike on such a curve, and what was the result?

Dom

 

I put together a set of half circles of increasing radius curve track with 110mm straight sections between curves. The mikado made it through the 220, 195, 170, and 145 mm radius curves. It froze in the 120mm radius but did not derail. After this result I decided to let it run around my briefcase layout that has 145 mm curves. Although it does make it around the 145 mm track, it runs much slower in the curves, and looks like it wants to climb out of the rails on the inside curve (leans towards the outside of the curve). It does this to a small degree on the 170 mm curve track. Because its not sitting level on the rails, it has much less tractive effort on the tighter curves. It seems like it can only pull 3 boxcars up a 4% 145mm radius grade without slipping. I would not recommend less than 195 mm radius for the mikado, but this radius should work.

​

 

Thank you for your feedback. Ho were the very low speed caracteristics on such curves (ie speed like a walking man, for switching operations)? Steady? jerky?

Dom

 

I set up a 195 mm oval and did a little more of an in depth examination. With the Rokuhan controller (Pure DC?), the Mikado will slow slightly when going through the curve, and you will need a fairly fast minimum speed to keep it from stalling. With a snail speed controller (60 Hz PWM), the Mikado will crawl through at a walking pace no problem. After breaking the engine in, the PWM controllers don't cause as much noise, and mine has quieted down quite a bit.


For switching you will have a different problem if you plan on using the front coupler. The pilot overhangs the outside rail quite a bit on 195 mm curves. The edge of the coupler pocket is just over the outside rail. When coupled to truck mounted coupler rolling stock, it will derail them (tested with 40 foot boxcars and heavyweights). Rolling stock with body mounted couplers work just fine. (Tested with 40 and 50 foot freight cars). The model also doesn't include a rear headlight.



I'm not sure if I have an odd one or not, but my Mikado has much less pulling power in reverse. It almost can't even pull itself up a 2% grade in reverse. Has anyone else noticed this?

 

Thank you Curn.. However, when I was speaking of switching, it was more related to slow speed conditions. For true switching, I guess one has to swap the locomotive Autolatch couplers with MTL's. And operate on straight track, mandatory with MTL/Kadee system...

Dom

 

Once broken in this engine can be controlled very accurately by some controllers right down to the crawl, With the dummy autolatch coupler front and back you can switch quite easily as long as you leave on car attached either front or rear of the engine, but, you need a tool to disconnect that last car, I use a round plastic garnish toothpick that has been shaved to a flat point to go down between the two jaws of the coupler and a slight twist will open the two jaws releasing the car . In the Rokuhan track system the magnet track is 55m long and that is all that is needed to uncouple a pair of Micro Trains couplers. The Mikado runs fine on curves down to a radius of 170 mm without any hesitation and it operated through 13 degree crossings. At Atlanta where I operated this engine for 5-6 hours. I have not tried to convert one to MTL magnematic couplers. I have used other AZL engines with autolatch couplers in switching operations so am familiar with their operation in switching

 

Great finding these old threads! I picked up a B&O Light Mikado on Ebay yesterday N.I.B. mostly because it was a nice deal and it will be fun to own an AZL steam engine. Can't wait to run it. Looks like an amazing piece of Z engineering.

 

Heck Yeah! At least it is a current loco.
Bummer about the tube, I got my 55" LG OLED 4K from an outfit called Massdrop for under 2K, and they are not warrantied, luckily it has performed like a champ for a couple of years now... Beauty picture BTW.
Interestingly those three "Mikes" all sold for about the same, 159, 159me, 154. And some other guy has a bent "buy it now mike" for 159. I guess that is what they cost on fleabay.
So was it worth the savings to now own a B&O vs the UP I would have purchased? I just decided they are close enough! They are black right? LOL I swear someone could make a killing selling or doing decal/paint conversions for all these loco's. Maybe when I retire I'll start a business and make a "killing" selling Z
I bought several "N.I.B." Marklin loco's when I first started out and none of them ran correctly until I pried them open and worked on them. It was pretty fun for me, I loved the challenge. But I could have flown a leg to LA and earned more in less time than what I saved by fixing them myself. I think you are absolutely correct though, one should to be skeptical of ebay. I've gotten great deals there, I've been robbed there (got the police involved and ultimately got my money back), and I've gotten "N.I.B" stuff there that had been used, abused, repaired. It's a minefield.

 

I am not worried about the weight of this loco but I am considering repairing the LED headlight issue. What type of LED would best replace the one supplied? Or was it just necessary to reorient the existing one (and paint the light tube)?

 

I had a GN Mike that I took kidd gloves to, and installed a decoder. She stuttered after that, and never could tweak it right. Wonder where we went astray?

Still, I'm looking to pick up another soon and try again, but these things are F-R-A-G-I-L-E so I'll skip coffee and eat extra carrots that day

 

This is from the OP, back in 2013. So I had the impression that it ran very well via DCC.

 

Thanks for the little history rray, I just started in the hobby last winter and was introduced to the world of Z at the Pleasanton train show by Jeff and the BazBoys. So you were a, um, mythical figure to me! I didn't hear you participating but I could see you were one of the foundations of modern Z. Hobby burnout is a real thing and coming back with vigor and enthusiasm is real too. I'm psyched to be on board for your next turn at the wheel

 

I guess I got lucky on the bay! My AZL B&O Light Mikado arrived today and exceeded my expectations in just about every way.
First off, it is much more impressive in real life than those lousy low res pictures on the AZL website, AZL really does itself a disfavor by putting up images with a dozen pixels to show off their loco's, it is much more detailed and fun to look at in real life. The light version has a really cool transition in boiler diameter, a conical section, that is impossible to detect in those pictures, the fine wire details and running gear also look fantastic.
I am happy with the headlight output but I think I will get some of that Tamiya clear orange paint someone mentioned as I prefer yellow/orange tinted headlights on old vehicles than bright white. It is bright enough for me and with the Rokuhan controller is does come on before the loco moves which is nice if you don't have DCC.
Mine runs smooth and quiet. I had a train of 19 cars pulled by a pair of ES44AC's and I took those off and hooked up the Mikado. It moved out with minimal wheel spin and ran well around my 245r test loop. But it cannot run that train in reverse, so that would be my only complaint or unfavorable observation. The ES44AC will push or pull that train the same either direction, not the Mikado, but who wants to see a Mikado pushing 19 cars anyway?
It is interesting to watch in action, the loco (not the tender) will roll to one side or the other under starting torque in forward or reverse, and going around the 245r 180 degree curves is appears to shudder a bit with those 19 cars hooked up, probably not from the track radius but rather from the torque effect.
So a real beauty from AZL. Fascinating to watch, a great runner, but as with a lot of Z it does have its idiosyncrasies.

 

Robert, great to see the replies to the Mikado string of discussions. I do not visit or post too much on Trainboard. Crazy busy as usual with the day job and travel. Decided to take a visit here today and checked out my old posts for the Mikado. I made a movie some 5years ago, it's on Vimeo. You can search with the words "monster mikado". I made two movies running a SF Heayweight that I modified. Here is the link to one of the two movies;

I have worked on quite a few Mikado's since, about 60 of them DCC'd to date. I make a custom machine weight for the front of the boiler, hold the front bogie more true and gains additional traction due to the added weight.

Mikado's need wide curves to be happy. Anything under 20 inch radius it's not gonna be happy. And Mikado's.........they like/prefer forward running. OK to reverse and back up a train, but not "running" around in reverse. Special attention needs to e paid to the side rods and more specifically the the pin that holds the side rods to the driver(s). The issue that you have with the pin coming out of the drover. This is due to "running wear" at the pin location on the driver is simply pressed in to the plastic. The constant beating on the pin that it takes from tight curves or running too fast. Creates a constant pounding that eventually loosens the pin. This......is because the pin is "pressed" into the plastic driver. The metal pin instead, should go into a threaded bronze or brass bushing. The unit as it is, comes from the factory with the driver center is made of plastic. The rubber traction tires compound this issue as they cause additional side torque against the driver pin. Tight radius, heavy side torque, loose pin as a result.

So........run your Mikado on radius that is over 12 inches, 24 inch diameter or larger.

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, DON