opinions?

[Daylight4449]

I need an opinion on putting dcc in my new mantua classics 0-6-0 tank.

[rich1998]

i am doing this loco with a digitrax dz125 decoder.
A dz 123 might work also.
runs fine but needs better driver pickup on one side.
had to remove one motor wire from the frame.
i am going to use a narrow strip of pc board with ½ of a kadee #5 springs soldered to it. one end of the spring will press on the inside of the driver rim. The pc board will be attached to the frame bottom right next to the inside of the drivers.
a little bit of walther's goo to attach the decoder to the flat can motor.
might use 1.5 volt 1.2mm bulbs or small led's for lights. don't know yet.
lex

[jward]

i have one of these, any digitrax decoder, or any decoder with a 9 pin jst plug, will plug right in. note: the 9 pin plug is on the end of the decoder, not the wiring harness. it is not to be confused with the nmra 8 pin plug, which is usually on the end of the decoder's wiring harness.

the mantua, and model power metal train, have a dummy plug. keep this plug, and if you ever need to convert the locomotive back to dc, you simply remove the decoder and insert the plug.

[rich1998]

i have my mantua classic 0-6-0 running very well with the driver pickups and all wheel tender pickups. it would not run very well at all without extra pickups. the extra wires will go to the lights. i recently got this idea from someone in another forum.


lex

[CNE Runner]

Lex - I have a newer edition Mantua 0-6-0T that doesn't run very well (it is a 'grinder'). Because of its running characteristics, I have relegated it to the storage shelf and rely on my Bachmann Plymouth WDT. I have checked the lubrication (seems OK as this is a new engine). What did you do to yours to make it a good runner? PS: I don't have any problems with electrical pick up.

Thanks,
Ray

[rich1998]

i had a little problem with a side rod that gave a little clunk but took care of that. 
the motor gears are fine in mine.
i know some people use pearl drops as an very mild abrasive and put a little on the gears to get rid of little burrs that can be on plastic gears. run it for about an hour in both directions.
i did that with a two motor 44 ton to get it to run quietly.
eventually a gear developed a little crack. that loco is back to backmann for a replacement.
i needed better pickups for dcc. dcc does not like interuptions in track power.
a few years ago I started thinking, new locos may not run correctly so I just get them to run correctly if any issues.
below is what I did for the small oil tender. i pulled one pickup of the truck. you can see the other pickups if you look closely.


I have drilled and tapped for 00-90 screws which works very well also.
the broken pipe is going to be replaced by brass wire that has been in blacken-it that gives a nice black weathered look.
lex

[CNE Runner]

Yes Lex...I can see additional pick ups can't hurt and [probably] will help the situation. I'll look into the pearl drops method. Thanks for the come back.

Cheers,
Ray

[rich1998]

forgot to mention, my mantua only had pickups between the first and second drivers. it looked ugly so i removed it.
tomar track sliders would work just fine also. i am going to get some track sliders next trip to the lhs which fortunately is only 15 miles away.

lex