N Gauge Mechanisms

About 10 years ago, I experimented with a layout invoving auto - shuttle units in 'N'. Whilst the electronics worked perfectly, the exercise was let down by the stock. I used three Farish 101 units, all had been run in, and all were a similar age. From hitting the trigger to slow down the train & stop it at a platform, one drew up well short, one stopped within the platform, and one overshot considerably. This was of course with the same controller setting. the relevant distances being trigger to start of platform 36", length of platform 36". I designed these as generous margins for a 2 car train of 10" max.

If I tried this again, would I fare better using three modern mechanisms. If so, which units contain state of the are mechanisms, and which the original stone age ones?

regards

CC

Reply to
Chris Clarke
Loading thread data ...

Possibly something Japanese underneath a UK outline body ? eg. GreenMax, Kato, MicroAce. You can pick up Japanese chassis for around £20 or so on Ebay.

But, expecting mass produced items to behave identically is perhaps optimistic. It will depend on how they've run in, how much lubrication they have, etc. as well as variations in motor efficiency, differences in gear friction, etc.

If you drove only one motor bogie and fitted a BIG flywheel, you might get similar performance out of several mechanisms. The flywheel would carry the loco over a decelleration phase. But, this assumes that an identical controller setting will bring the motors up to the same speed. Flywheels should be as large a diameter as possible - for a cylinder, the effect is the 4th power of the radius.

Another way to do it might be with DCC, a computer to drive the trains and track circuiting to tell the computer where the trains are currently located.

- Nigel

Reply to
Nigel Cliffe

The mechanism in the new Farish Class 170 DMU is supposed to be a very good runner and much better than the pre-Bachmann ones. However whether they are anymore consistent is a different matter as Bachmann's QC leaves a lot to be desired. The good news is that Farish are also going to use the same mechanism in the new versions of their Class 158 and Class 101 DMUs. When they will actually be released is anyones guess though.

Fred X

Reply to
Fred X

PolyTech Forum website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.