Minitrix Fairbanks Morse loco control

Stu wrote: I have one of these and it runs very well apart from accelerating from not moving to a slow crawl in one step - there seems to be nothing between. I found a reference on the net to this, suggesting putting a resistor in series with the motor. I can see how this might work with a crude controller, but I have a good quality feedback controller so would this really help? Some of my Lifelike locos will run at barely a crawl without any persuasion with this.

---------------------------------------------------- The mechanisms for these Minitrix locomotives dates back to the

1960s-1970s when they were first released. In it's day, it was a good product. You might find that cleaning the pickup wipers, gears, and wheels, then re-oiling will help.

Bill Bill's Railroad Empire N Scale Model Railroad:

History of N Scale: Railroad Bookstore: to 1,100 sites:

I have 2 that were given to me by my buddy who bought them new. Those and the 3 Trix U28C I have run great with some cleaning. never had a part replaced or failed yet.

The slow speed characteristics of a loco depend upon it's drive. Some locos just won't start to a nice slow crawl due to the gearing (if the loco is capable of running at 200smph or more then the starting speed will generally be quite high). Another problem could be that there is a fair bit of friction in the drive which means that the moto needs to overcome that friction before starting to move. This friction can be found in the motor (armature is bound in the motor frame) or gear towers that bind the gears. You need ot inspect for these problems and fix them if possible.

-- Why do penguins walk so far to get to their nesting grounds?