American Z Line Light Mikado

Hi All,

I was able to track down a Southern Rail Light Mikado from AZL. I received it yesterday!! Oh man, how cool it was to run that little train. I loved how much quieter it was than my F7.

I did buy some 220mm Rokuhan track, but I could not get the train around the corners at slow speeds. Anyone else run into this? I am thinking of upgrading to a bigger radius and am hopeful that will help.

Best,

Ray

 

Have you cleaned the tracks with isopropyl alcohol lately? I would try that too. Non of my Marklin steam locomotives are happy or run well unless the tracks are clean.

 

I have 6 of AZL's Light Mikes and they all run fine on 220mm. Check all the joints and couplers in each rail to make sure they are properly aligned and coupled together. Make sure the track is clean and follow the brake in procedure.
if you still have problems with it try contacting the dealer you got it from or contact Rob K at AZL for more Help

 

Without adjusting any of the driver linkages, look *carefully* and *closely* to see if one or more of the driver likages are hanging up. In order to run on a curve, they must slide left/right rather than all in line.

 

Thanks all!

This is brand new track I bought, so i think it is ok. I did check out the linkages and it looks to be free, so I'm a bit stumped. She does seem to be running a little better, so maybe it's just a break in period thing. I'm going to pull out some 195mm over the weekend and see if it will run on that ... maybe it just needs to run a little. What is the break in method that should be used?

Best,

Ray

 

Here is a great break-in routine (hat tip to markm from the AZLForum):
I spend about 40 minutes running it in break-in: 5 minutes each at 1/2 and full throttle forward/reverse, clockwise/counter-clockwise. The break-in frequently makes a big difference in the performance.

 

A good breakin helps a lot. Also, new track needs to be cleaned as well. Never hurts to clean.

Trey

 

Ray,
My Mikados run fairly well, after a full 40 minutes of break-in on a 220mm oval. The units run more smoothly and more prototypically on a 270mm oval.
One of my issues was with the front truck: it's very particular how it wants to track and it took a while to get it consistently right. If the truck isn't right it would tend to ride the rail spikes into curves and cause stalling.
This is one locomotive that really likes broad curves and straight-a-ways. Mine pulls the Sunset Limited set (including the weights) around the 270mm curves nicely, but struggles on the 220mm. I think it's a matter of the direction of force on the tender coupler. Works great with shorter, lighter trains.

Mark

 

I will definitely try that break in routine, thanks! I did run it on some 195mm yesterday and it took the turns ... Actually better than the 220mm.

Mark, your description sounds exactly like what I was seeing. I'm thinking I will try some 270mm as well. It may be that I didn't have front truck just right on the 220mm, but it never hurts to have more track!

Best,

Ray