Quote from: ericw95 on May 07, 2011, 10:36:08 AM
that's what i did, the two hours recommended was no where near enough and i still saw major improvements up until about the ten hour mark.

Thanks.  I don't think it can hurt and I don't think 10 hrs is going to impact the life of the loco enough to worry about.

Bachmann's instructions say:

"Like any fine piece of machinery, your precision engineered BACHMANN Trains will work best after a few hours of actual running time.  Do not run at full speed.  Frequent starts and stops and running at various speeds will assure you many years of trouble-free running."

Now, the way I read this is simple, no full speed or same speed runs for the first few hours.  They don't say anything about how many hours over what period of time or about running "light" or "in service".  Since it will be a fairly long time before I have a layout to run on, I plan to set up a test layout using the Empire Builder set, probably adding a crossover to make a figure eight to stress all parts equally.  My eventual layout will have an unattended running feature, so I wouldn't want too use that during the "break in" period.  A lot of people buy trains, especially train sets like the Empire Builder set for Christmas, set them up around the Christmas tree, and then let them run at the same speed for hours.  Personally, I don't see anything wrong with that, but if the directions say not to do that, then I won't. 

Quote from: ericw95 on April 29, 2011, 02:58:56 PMalso,you should know the loco performs far better with an extensive break in period (mine was like 10 hours before i started getting consistent performance.

Not too long ago, I received a replacement loco for the one that came with my Empire Builder set and I still haven't broken it in.  I haven't startedmy layput yet, so I'm getting ready to set up a small oval for that purpose this weekend.  My understanding is that you run the loco for at least 2 hours varying the speed every few minutes and never run it at full speed.  I assume you're saying I should do that for a few hours each day until I get around 10 hours of running in.  Is that correct?  Can I vary the speed every 10 minutes or so or does it have to be more often than that?

Guess what arrived in the mail today?  A new 4-8-4 Santa Fe.  I'm surprised I didn't get an email, but at least I don't have to think about it now.

Anyway, I just ran it a bit, but it runs so much better than the other one ever did.  I'm going to hold off breaking it in though until I decide what to do about track.  I've taken my E-Z Track apart so many times, I think I've loosened things up too much and there are a lot of gaps now.  While I like the E-Z Track concept, I think I want to go the more traditional route with regular track, roadbed and I guess a lot of glue.  I haven't given up though, next step is to purchase a sheet of foam and put together a test track.  I need to practice soldering, etc., before I tackle a final layout.

With that in mind, I've finalized my layout design, but I think I want to reconsider wider curves and see what that does to the design.  I've kind of convinced myself that while the locos will run on the 11.25" curves, I'm going to encounter too many hassles over time and that will not be fun.  But, I wanted to get this design finished so I have something to compare to as I try some mods.  Better to do that now.  I'll probably have to settle for shorter runs, but I think I'll be okay with that now that I at least have my "vision" down in XTrackCAD.  Besides shorter runs with 19" curves will let me run longer trains and there is something to be said for that.

I do have to give kudos to Bachmann for replacing the loco hassle-free, no questions asked.

Well, I guess I was forewarned Bachmann turnaround was slow, but here it is March 26th and still nothing on my Empire Builder loco repair.  That makes over 11 weeks since I sent it off and 8.5 weeks since they acknowledged receipt.  I would bug them via email, but now I'm curious just how long it's going to take without being a squeaky wheel. 

It I did this a lot, I'd tack a piece of track to a scrap board (1x4, 1x6 1x8, etc.).  If I was interested in both HO and N, I'd attach a piece of each.  I'd put some alligator clips on a 9-volt battery.  When I want to test an engine, I'd clip the battery to the appropriate track and test away.  You could even make the board 3'-4' long to give you some running room and add something to control/reverse speed.

Quote from: mhampton on February 11, 2011, 12:25:59 PM

Quote from: DoubleDAZ on February 10, 2011, 11:17:24 PM
However, eventually I am going to forego using E-Z Track altogether because I want to use FlexTrack on the straights so I can have gentile curves.

E-Z Track only allows Jewish curves?     Sorry, I couldn't resist.  It's Friday and I'm ready for the weekend.

Too funny, didn't even see that faux pas.

Quote from: skipgearBoth Northerns will run on 11.25 R just fine.........................Larger would be better of course.

Thanks on the confirmation.  I plan on running trains of 5-8 cars on my layout, so you're giving me hope that I won't have to convert to larger radii.  I don't like the conversion I've done so far in XTrakCAD at all.

Quote from: ACY
You did not step on my toes..........,if only there were a radius in E-Z track between 19" and 12.5" radius.

Can't argue with that, but I think you are still missing the point that we have no idea what space he has to use, so the discussion to this point is kind of pointless and has probably run him off.  In hindsight, had I known you were going to get all bothered by another point of view, I wouldn't have responded to share my experience to give him some hope that he just might be able to design a nice layout for the space he has. I'd like 19" radii too, but I'm almost convinced that is not going to happen and I may have to settle for smaller locos.  At ant rate, I think he has enough info on the subject of radii, so I'm moving on if he responds.

One good thing though is you gave me the idea to totally switch to flextrack and try something like 14" radii and see if most of my design will fit.  I haven't checked other brands of sectional track yet, but thanks for mentioning that. 

Quote from: James in FLI shouldn't have,
My apologies.

I wasn't talking to you, or anyone in particular for that matter.  I just thought we were getting ahead of ourselves arguing about radii until we know what we have to work with.  He may have to give up a lot of his wishes, go with smaller locos, etc.  No way to really know though until he responds.  It would be nice too if he provided a sketch of what he's trying to put together that won't fit.

Anyway, I also think he should listen to whomever gives him what he wants.  I just know that tryng to live with 19" radii in a small space is pretty futile, especially E-Z Track.  I'm far from an expert, having just gotten back into the hobby after 30+ years, but IMHO you just have to give up too much.  I'm trying to convert my design right now and I'm getting more frustrated by the minute.  Fortunately, I don't have the problem of already having a lot of equipment I want to use, so I can give up specific locos to get the kind of running I want.  For me, running is more important.  I am going to buy a diesel and some rolling stock soon to run on my test layout with 11.25" curves.  However, eventually I am going to forego using E-Z Track altogether because I want to use FlexTrack on the straights so I can have gentle curves.  Modeling is all about compromise and only the modeler knows what's important to him/her.

Quote from: ACY on February 10, 2011, 03:43:21 PMYours may run fine, but this does not imply someone else's locomotive will run fine on that radius. It would also look better if you run it on 19" radius.

Sorry if I stepped on your toes, but all I did is accurately state that my 4-8-4 loco works fine and that Bachmann's locos are rated for 11.25" curves.  There was no inference in that, just a simple statement of fact to go along with your comments.  Then too, my comment was based on his stating that he is already having trouble getting something to fit the space he has.  Just adding my experience for another option.  It's not 19" or nothing you know.

Plus, until he provides some more info on his available space, it doesn't make a lot of sense to offer much of anything yet.  No one will argue that 19" doesn't look better, etc., but not everyone has the space you obviously have and some have to live with 11.25".

I also gave him plenty of reason to seriously consider 19", just not the loco alone.

Plus, I don't want to get into a p*ssing contest in someone's thread.  I'm going to help if I can and that's the end of it.

Bachmann has a book of track plans specifically for E-Z Track, but I don't know how good it is.  Kalmbach sells a bunch of books too, like "101 Track Plans", "Track Planning For Realistic Operations", etc., as does Model Railroader Magazine and any number of others.  Some books have been around for 40 years or more with updates along the way and there are probably newer books that show more modern techniques and design theory.  If you have an LHS (local hobby shop), that would be a good place to start looking and there is always Amazon, etc.  Libraries also often carry model railroading books.  Oh, and HO-Scale plans are fairly easy to adapt to N-Scale.

If you want some help here, you need to provide the size of space you have to work with and a little more detail of what kind of operations you are looking for.  I'm also building a tabletop layout, on a "real" dining room table.  But, I'm designing my grid benchwork so it will overhang by a foot or so, making my final space 12'x6'.  It will be in 3 sections; one will be a detachable 6x2 staging yard and two will be 10x3 sections that butt up to the back of each other with a dividing diorama of some sort between them.  It will also need to be able to be disassembled a couple of times a year for family dinner parties, so it will be an interesting project for me and I'll have to learn a lot of things along the way to make it happen as planned.

FWIW, the 4-8-4 that comes with the Empire Builder Set runs fine on 11.25" curves.  However, the caboose (with it's body-mounted coupler) doesn't, it pulls the last car off the track after 2-3 curves.  All Bachmann N-Scale locos, including their 2-6-6-2, are rated for 11.25" curves.  The only exception is the Spectrum-series Amtrak Acela.  But, because of the caboose, I'd be concerned using rolling stock, especially longer cars, with body-mounted couplers.  Since I intend to start buying such cars, I'm in the process of converting my design to the larger 19" curves to see what will still fit and what will need to be changed.

BTW, I'm using XTrackCAD to design my layout on the computer and I suggest you might do the same.  It's a little difficult to figure out, but it has demos to show you most things and the help files eventually show you how to do everything once you learn the basics.  It has an E-Z Track parameter for available tracks, so the result should be fairly accurate.

This really stinks.  I sent my loco off on Jan 6 and got a note Saturday saying Bachmann  received it on Jan 25 and there is a 6 week turnaround.  Now, I don't care about the turnaround time or even the overall time, but I sent it by USPS Priority Mail and am pretty disappointed it took almost 20 days,  for Priority Mail???

To be fair to the USPS, I don't know if the 25th was the day the repair department received it or if it really took that long to go from here to there.  My guess is it was maybe received by Bachmann earlier, then checked out and sent for repair.  Having worked for the USPS, I just find this strange.

Oh well, at least Bachmann has it and will get to it at some point. 

It's going to be awhile, but let me try comparing it to a working one first.

Wife is doing fine.  Surgery was a success, she's walking (a bit, but she's up), and will be home Thursday.  Thanks for your concern.

James, I managed to reinstall and run the train several times, but still have the same problem.  At first I thought it was just the manual level that had too much play, but then eventually the switch started jiggling as the train approached.  I'm going to compare the insides to one that is working and see what I can see.  I was at the hospitla all day and am getting ready to go back in a few minutes, so I won't get to  it for awhile.  BTW, the surgery was a success and my wife now has a new knee.  Next is rehab, ouch!