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Riggzie's constant thread

1126 Views 16 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  Riggzie, 
Riggzie
If mods do not approve - i appologize and go and delete it and ill start a new thread....

So in other forums, we have always posted this question then that question, etc...
but for our truck builds, we have a truck build thread and it is constant.. so I figured I would do the same here as it can be a pain sometimes searching for some things and I like them all organized together.

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Riggzie
now.. my first questions..

1. what deems how many cars a train can pull? I googled it and I see people pulling 20-50 cars !!!!!!
I tried doing just a few cars and with great success. Added a few more and my train slowed to a crawl and struggled.
This is with the 624 Chesapeake & Ohio NW2 switcher. I was able to get the Loco, 4 cars and
the caboose going. Add anymore and its doomed!!!!!

I then took the Lionel Lines Berkshire Type 2-8-4-Locomotive No. 726 (googled it...)
and it did better but still not anywhere close to what others state....

now I am in a circle with 1x 10" straight on each corner so were not talking a big track. Still just toying around and playing.....

so the 726 did better but still slowed down at
Locomotive - Coal Car - 6 cars and a caboose so were talking 8....

im going to google and learn the locomotive features as I do not know what they do as there are smoke, whistles, etc... scared me at first when I started driving it and smoke came out of it. I am in IT (information technology) and when any of our devices let out "smoke" we call it the BAD SMOKE and something is fried....

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2. What is this track for? just loose in a box. remember I inherited a mess of boxes and no idea what this stuff is.. tryin to learn with google but some dont give a clue...
dont mind the ho track.. lol messin with that on my bench plus this o in another room.


*********edited..
found it...

yeah no clue what it means!!!!

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seayakbill said:
2. What is this track for? just loose in a box. remember I inherited a mess of boxes and no idea what this stuff is.. tryin to learn with google but some dont give a clue...
dont mind the ho track.. lol messin with that on my bench plus this o in another room.

That is an operating track that was used for uncoupling rolling stock or activating operating cars such as the operating log car. The rolling stock would require the proper contacts / shoes to function on the operating track.

Bill
Click to expand...
ahhh thanks...

yes I have a barrel cart and loader, log cart and loader and cattle cart and loader (not sure the cattle are there)… so this track would work with them then im guessing... I have a lot to open and look at, to see what I really have. In the new member section I posted and did a quick go through the boxes but have some boxes of houses, plastic and all apart.
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seayakbill said:
Pulling power depends on many factors. Motor size in the loco, wattage / volts of the transformer, wheel friction of the rolling stock. I am guessing that both locos need a good cleaning removing old grease and regreasing. The rolling stock most likely needs the wheels / trucks oiled. The track may not have good connections causing a drop in current.

Both locos will pull many more pieces of rolling stock if all factors are improved.

Most Postwar steamers will produce smoke if the proper pellets or liquid is used. Your steamer probably still has smoke pellet residue in the chamber resulting in smoke.

Bill
Click to expand...
gotcha, thanks!

yes I will have to go through these and clean them up. All been sitting for YEARS in boxes and now out and about. will start looking into how to clean and oil.


so...
Transformer is a ZW so 275 watts. Track is brand new Lionel ez track just clicked together

ill have to look through the boxes for the smoke stuff, if any is left and if not, will have to buy some!!!!!
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Riggzie
3. Transformer - ZW

so this thing is working, and Ill have to hit it with a volt meter to verify 275 watts but it has some issues and im also curious about a few things. I read up on it a bit...

I am using the right side of it to control my quick train setup and it is working. I now know that if I take the one lever and click down, that it is used to stop then reverse the train and that works.

I read the other lever is for voltage. Maybe that is why my train wasn't pulling good enough. will have to try again.

I read up and understand the red light will only come on if there is a short and im not ready to test that yet!!!!!

now my questions

1. the Green light does not work either so will need to hit the wires with a volt meter too and see if I have power and maybe replace the bulb...

2. the manual also states that if I click up, that is for the train to whistle. I do have those other whistle controllers, so that means the previous owner had them before getting the ZW and im guessing now they are not needed? I have a few of the coal cars, and the one I have out, doesn't whistle so will need to check for the other and try it too but Ill have questions later on how to fix these. I did see something on youtube about someone going over these so maybe that will help too....
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Track Layout recommendations:

my basement is not that big and laid out in a fashion that is going to make an O scale setup difficult, for what I want to do.

so I am just looking for thoughts... I am now just getting the stuff unboxed, and will need to go over every piece and oil them, clean them and get everything operational.
I could just run a 5x9 sheet and use that as im seeing this flex track doesn't quite fit on a 4ft wide piece....

so with that....

looking at what would you do?

1. go small and just have something to run the trains and get things working?

OR

2. reading the ZW manual (online of course), It had a layout for a dual train setup. Looks really cool and needs 6x9 to which will be tight but if I set it up and keep it clean the wife should be ok with it. I most likely have EVERYTHING to do this. I have the track changers, think lionel 022, tons of track that is rusty and needs to be cleaned up....

3. do a 5x9 big oval and find my specialty pieces as I have a barrel loader, log loader and cattle loader and get them setup into the layout now or wait for a future thing on this?


I do want to move and now I have an even more pressing reason for certain basement layouts and spacing!!!!! im stoked to get this stuff going...

not to be a Debbie downer, it will take some time to get to this stuff as my nephew passed away in a head on collision xmas night out with friends. 15y old. funeral tomorrow, and you know this stuff takes time to heal and get back on track with life...

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Tom_C said:
Riggzie, the editing function has been limited to 2 days due to some tomfoolery from a disgruntled member. You probably won't be able to edit your placeholder posts very much longer.
Click to expand...
ahhh crap... ok... if that happens, mods can delete... thx..
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Tom_C said:
Can I ask a question to you Riggzie? Is this thread a place where you can ask all your questions in one place? It seems to me that once it grows beyond several pages then the information is really only useful to you since few other people are going to sift through a never-ending thread looking for bread crumbs of information.

Forgive me if I've missed the point.
Click to expand...
no its a good point...

my original thought is to do it like we have on other forums. you have your first post and reserve the next 2 to 5... so as you grow you add there..

example is I would put

zw transformer - testing and troubleshooting - https://www.modeltrainforum.com/showthread.php?p=2490152#post2490152


you will see how it allows a user to see our first few posts.. see the questions you had and a link to jump right to it.

but as someone mentioned, you cant edit beyond a few days so this will not work.
I will go backwards and redo my questions later into individual threads...

so like one for the zw transformer, one for track layout, one for particular locomotive question... just like normal.. hah...
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im finding this O gauge is going to be difficult in the size area I have (until my next house) as the pic above im showing 6'x9' and I could get that done but I wouldn't be able to add some neat stuff I have... yes water tower, dual spot light, etc I can add..
but I cant add some of the other stuff I just opened...
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gunrunnerjohn said:
I removed the placeholders, they serve no purpose. Even if you edited them, they wouldn't show up as new posts, so most people would totally miss them. Probably not the intended purpose.
Click to expand...
actually.. when you post and are on page 45 they show up as new posts... but to original one asking about the purpose, it was for when someone remembers who the person was but don't remember where they posted it. like a table of contents... so it does work well... all good though!
:thumbsup:
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