The pantographs on the Bachmann N scale GG-1 are sprung and an either/or mechanism... they are either down and locked, or all the way up, nothing in between. Obviously, they are prototypical in that respect, meant to adjust dynamically to the variance in catenary wire height. The Kato GG-1 model pantos are adjustable, in that they are not sprung. You can set them pretty much at any height, prototypical or not, and they will stay there. What I have found on my layout is that the 'full up' height of the Bachmann model pantos seriously fouls tunnel portals, like the cast hydrocal ones from Woodland Scenics: Or my own N-scaled scratch built ones: My solution was a small piece of black thread, pretty unobtrusive. Thinnest you can find, polyester (cotton will stretch or contract in varying humidity levels), looped around the single crossbar just under the shoe at the top and the two crossbars on the base, gives this result. Unmodified on the left, modded on the right: Prototypical? No. But it now runs safely and reliably on my layout. BTW, this is a very sweet-running unit, sharp looking and the sounds are quite nice, if way loud out of the box. I am still working on adjusting the sound levels on the various effects. My Sunday project!
That's a nice solution. I'm a fan of sprung pans - having used the Kato ones on my Little Joes, I'm not such a fan of those. They'd always flop to one side or the other. Now I make my own - would love to figure out how to spring load them but I've built in enough tension that they stay put whichever height you place them at. Is it hard for you to get that thread at just the right "height" ? Looks great. -Mike
I measured the exact height I needed to clear the lowest portal, then used a thin strip of masking tape to hold the panto at the correct height. Looped the thread, tied my knot at the top, and then removed the tape. I used tweezers to move the knot around so it was on the bottom of the 'triangle'.
