|
Post by boxcarwilly on Sept 1, 2013 20:43:51 GMT -5
You might try Zscale Monster trains. Tony has just about everything you need for most manufacturers including AZL. Not sure of the price though.
|
|
|
Post by boxcarwilly on Aug 31, 2013 18:46:08 GMT -5
Hey Mark.
The straight edge idea is a good one. I should have thought of that. Likewise with the bulbs. I wonder if that idea would work with an ohm meter. My layout is in my basement where the temperature is pretty much constant winter and summer but I suppose humidity could get into the wood frame and warp it over time. I shall investigate further.
Thanks
|
|
|
Post by boxcarwilly on Aug 31, 2013 9:26:53 GMT -5
Mark
Thanks so much for the insight and suggestions. Yes the power loss happens on pretty much all my engines and it seems to be happening as the engine enters the frog area of the turnout from any direction. It happens randomly. Sometimes through the straight and other times through the divergence. It's quite bazaar actually. Some of the turnouts that this is happening to have been installed in my layout for a few years now, but there is one that was just recently installed this summer that it's happening to. Whenever I install any MTL turnout, I have used very thin strips of styrene fore and apt of the underside slider and again at the entry points of the turnout just to be sure there is no binding or sticking. I have taken this latest turnout up and looked at it from track level from all sides to see if maybe it was bent, but I can't see anything that would indicate this. I'm wondering now if the base of my layout at these turnouts has somehow shifted and caused dips or heaves enough to affect the operation of the turnouts. I don't know.
|
|
|
Post by boxcarwilly on Aug 30, 2013 8:59:06 GMT -5
If anyone here is using Marklin turnouts on their layouts, I would greatly appreciate your feedback on a problem I'm having. I am currently using MTL turnouts on my layout and up to now, I haven't had any major problems with any of them. However, this week I have. It seems that for some reason, a few of my turnouts have decided not to conduct power through one side of the turnout. I don't know why this is happening. I've tried everything I can think of short of taking them apart to correct the situation but nothing seems to work satisfactorily. When an engine goes over a specific turnout, depending on if the points are to main or siding, the engine loses power and stalls, yet when it goes over the turnout when the points are in the other direction, there is no power loss. It only happens on certain turnouts and it seems to jump from one side to the other randomly. One time I have power through the main, and the next time I don't but I have power to the siding. It's quite bewildering and as I've said I've tried everything I can think of to remedy the problem. Shimming, cleaning the track ends on both the turnout and the adjoining tracks, cleaning the entire turnout over and over again, even inspecting the turnout to see if perhaps it might be bent. I've also checked all electrical connections all the way back to the control panel but I'm damned if I can find the problem. I've heard from several sources that Marklin turnouts are far more superior to MTL in that they are more efficient in operation and are much more reliable. I have never used Marklin track for anything so I don't know if this is true. I'm told that the power transfer on these turnouts is quite a bit different then MTL which seems to be the reason they work much better. But before I plunge ahead and replace my problem turnouts with Marklin, I'd like to get some opinions from those who use them. Perhaps even some ideas on how to correct the problem I'm currently experiencing. Oh and I have also researched the Rohakan turnouts as well, and I like the idea of the plug and play set up and I understand they are far superior to both MTL and Marklin turnouts. The problem being the control boxes are quite large and cumbersome. I don't know if they would work with Atlas's switch controllers.
|
|
|
Post by boxcarwilly on Jul 24, 2013 12:31:49 GMT -5
Thanks Rob. I appreciate that. The universal couplers of which I spoke is wishful thinking I'm afraid. Sending me replacement couplers may in fact not be any help at all. I just don't know at this point. This whole ordeal has been so frustrating. Going to all the time and expense of sending x number of trucks with the same couplers in them only to end up right back at the beginning again seems like such a waste. As mentioned before, when I compared the couplers from the original autoracks to the newest ones, I can't really see any difference in them even under a microscope. That doesn't mean that there isn't, there may well be something so tiny that the naked eye with a microscope can't pick it up. Perhaps sending 1 pair to test, might be the prudent course of action. If they work, and solve my problem, then replacing the rest should be OK. But then who knows? Leave this with me and I'll get back to you in a week with my address. I'm heading out in a couple of hours for a funeral back east and I'll be gone at least until next Monday. I'll touch base with you then.
Thanks again. Ken
|
|
|
Post by boxcarwilly on Jul 23, 2013 14:21:47 GMT -5
Ken, No worries - I'm sure Rob Kluz will read this thread soon enough! We'll get you some trucks pronto. Best, -Rob(A) AZL I've never heard a word from Rob Kluz on this.
|
|
|
Post by boxcarwilly on Jul 18, 2013 9:06:19 GMT -5
they will sit on a siding and gather dust.
[/quote]Expensive siding display...[/quote]
Yes it will be. Sadly, there is nothing else that can be done at this time.
|
|
|
Post by boxcarwilly on Jul 15, 2013 10:27:43 GMT -5
if you look down on the coupler the old style coupler has a small square shaped projection that sticks out the righthand side just behind the curved part of the coupler. The Auto Latch type does not have this,
Glen, I have inspected these couplers under a magnifying glass and have found no discernable difference between the couplers on my original autoracks and the newest additions.
I've come to a decision. I'm going to to remove the 8 newest autoracks from service and relegate them to a display track and just use the original 8 which I bought when they were first introduced. At least I know they work flawlessly. This is most disappointing but necessary. Until someone comes up with a universal replacement coupler that I can use instead of AZL's autolatch couplers, I have no other option. Of course we are still experimenting with a home ground quick fix to the problem, but for the present, and probably the future, they will sit on a siding and gather dust.
Rob K. Please take note as per Rob A
|
|
|
Post by boxcarwilly on Jul 8, 2013 10:18:36 GMT -5
Yes Mark this is similar to what I was talking about only the kind we have here have the duplexes at one end only. I've never seen a car like this on any Canadian line. If you put in duplex sleeping car in your search engine, you should come up with several versions of the kind I'm talking about. There's an excellent version of a Great Northern duplex sleeper on a U-Tube video. There are several other versions as well. Walther's put's out an duplex sleeper in Via liveries. That's the kind I'd like to have. K
|
|
|
Post by boxcarwilly on Jul 7, 2013 10:19:48 GMT -5
I tried to post pics of the kind of sleepers I was looking for in Canadian liveries, but I couldn't do it. They would not go. Kept telling me it was copyrighted material. In any case, I stumbled across the correct term for these sleepers. They are called duplex sleepers where an upper berth has it's own window, usually the same size as a regular window in a sleeper car but it is offset and falls between the two bottom windows. I've seen these in many configurations from two to three on one side, to the entire length of the car. I haven't been able to find any specific cross sections or floor plans to these cars so I don't know for sure if the upper berth is within a compartment or if it's open to the passageway with a curtain that closes it off. The full car version of this type I've seen many times in movies. Not much privacy in those types of sleepers. Anyway, it would be nice to have one or two of these duplex sleepers in all Canadian liveries.
|
|
|
Post by boxcarwilly on Jul 4, 2013 8:10:54 GMT -5
Glen This is yet another interesting perspective on my coupler woes. I have to admit, this is something that I had not considered before. But it begs the question, if my newer autoracks were fitted with old style AZL couplers, then would they not couple and stay coupled to my older, first run autoracks? Armed with this new info, I'm going to have to check to see if there is any difference between the two. Maybe that has been my problem since day one. Very interesting. K
|
|
|
Post by boxcarwilly on Jul 2, 2013 9:20:36 GMT -5
Thanks Rob. I appreciate your assistance and willingness to make my situation right. Since this problem is a reoccurring one involving not just the autoracks, but also the hoppers and tankers, you can well understand how disappointed and frustrated I am with these cars. As I stated at the beginning of this thread, they just don't seem to have the ability or strength to hold more then 5 cars of equal or less weight when going up a grade of 2%. They simply pull apart and it doesn't matter where on the grade they are when this happens. As for the coupling issue, I have replaced the couplers on all but two of my hoppers with Bowser Bucklers as they are called and they are working much, much better. Now I understand that Bowser Bucklers are made by the same manufacturer as your Autolatch couplers, and that being the case, it begs the question, why do the Bowser's seem to work better? It doesn't make sense. As for the tankers, I have installed MTL couplers on all of them. Again, they seem to hold together much better on the grade. As for the autoracks, well Bowser doesn't make long shank couplers that would be suitable for the racks, hence all the testing and experimentation. It is rather strange that my 8 first run autoracks cause me no problem at all. They all go up my grade with no separation, and couple with the slightest of effort. It's all the racks that came after your initial run that I've had the constant problem with. Like I said before, even when I intermix the newer racks with the older ones, they will not hold together on the grade. They will however couple so long as a newer rack couples to an older one. If they are all manufactured the same, then why does this happen? Your suggestion that perhaps the couplers were damaged in transit, might be true for one or even two, but all 8? And 4 of these were a set encased in foam in the box. I have to say that I'm about to throw in the towel and just use these racks for display only on a siding somewhere and just run my original 8. Your suggestion of sending me replacement truck/coupler assemblies makes sense and I accept that as long as I can get the results I need with little or no frustration. And I don't consider this as FUN. I would need a price on replacements for 8 racks. I will give my friend one of my older racks for him to do a comparison of couplers. If necessary, under a microscope to determine if there has been some kind of deformity. Perhaps this could be the issue. One final thing Rob and I mentioned this once before. I purchased one of your hoppers brand new from my dealer and I ran into the coupling issue when I took it right out of the box. On close inspection, I found that both couplers were facing the same way, not opposite as it should be. Therefore the hopper wouldn't couple to another car on one end. Now I don't have the manual dexterity to actually take a coupler out of the box, turn it over and put it back in, so I simply replaced the entire assembly with another one I had laying around. I was lucky in that regard but to have both couplers facing the same direction would be a production or quality control issue at the factory. This should have been caught there. In any case, that issue was resolved quickly and the car works perfectly. Once again I appreciate your efforts to help solve my problem. It's been an uphill battle, (no pun intended) trying to get these racks to couple, and stay coupled on the grade. Maybe new coupler/trucks will help. Who knows. Just send me the details and cost and we will go from there. Thanks again. Ken
|
|
|
Post by boxcarwilly on Jun 30, 2013 8:23:02 GMT -5
After considerable thought and design attempts and prototypes, I regret that my engineering friend has yet to come up with a viable solution to my coupler dilemma. We are still considering the pigtail clip but so far everything he has come up with has either been too big or bulky, or no strong enough. With engineering students off until September he now has more time to spend on the problem. So far a two pronged pitchfork approach seems to be the best option but we are also exploring other scenarios. Unfortunately during the experimental stage we have broken 2 sets of couplers so now I must fine more. The whole problem stems from two issues, strength and ability to couple easily. None of the couplers on the newer autoracks and most of the hoppers have either of these properties. As I've stated above, the couplers on my autoracks do not couple automatically when cars are put together. They bounce off regardless of how hard or soft they are pushed together. I have to pick up one end of the rack and insert the coupler into that of the next car. Likewise when pulling many cars of equal or mixed weight, they simply pull apart or let go. The research continues and I hope we can come up with something soon as my frustration level has gone over the top.
|
|
|
Post by boxcarwilly on Jun 22, 2013 9:25:06 GMT -5
Well I for one would like to see someone come up with a tail end, car with the covered veranda on the back like was shown in the picture above. To me it doesn't matter if it's heavy or lightweight, just so long as it bears the old colour liveries of CN and CP. I agree that they should be lighted as well. At least the marker lights. These companies didn't incorporate lighted drum heads on their tail/business cars. However, Canadian Pacific did when they converted to the aluminum cars with the bullet style observation car. Via kept this style too when they took over passenger service from the other national railways and bought all their passenger cars. I'm still waiting for sleeper cars with windows in the upper berths.
|
|
|
Post by boxcarwilly on Jun 12, 2013 12:20:43 GMT -5
You'll never get the lettering off if the car has been clear coated after painting.
|
|