I got a nice late Christmas present in the form of Heljan's Exe and Taw in Southern livery this morning. :D
So far I've only tested them running backwards and forwards and they run very nicely indeed. Will later test them through some points and creves that I want to use on the layout and see how they fair.
They're good at finding poorly layed track work as they'll just stop dead if the straight track has too greater a kink. Yes I use set track :P I find it easier to lay than flex track. Also if I don't put them on the track carefully with my re railer they will just spin their driving wheels and go nowhere. This I suspect has more to do with the pony wheels than anything.
More later :)
If you do a search on RMWeb and NGRM forums you will find plenty of threads on them. If you are lucky enough to get good 'uns all well and good, however if you find they have running problems you will find plenty of advice on "fixes" on those threads... On NGRM you need to be a member to view them, but here's the RMWeb thread, all 43 pages of it!!
http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/68054-lynton-barnstaple-oo9-loco-from-heljan/page-43
Thanks, that might come in handy!
Well I've got the old pony wheel derails on points problem. Joy. I'm using Peco N gauge medium radius points simply because Peco's N gauge range is more readily available locally.
To my very untrained eye the pony wheels seem really over designed. Pickups while nice aren't really needed from what comments I've read and the amount of play on the axles... :o
Maybe someone enterprising enough will come up with a 'correction' kit ! The pony wheels seem to be the biggest problem with the batch 2 L&B locos. I never did get any of the batch 1's because of all the bad press. Took a chance on the batch 2's.
Never understood the obsession with pickups on pony wheels. All my pony trucks carry no weight and just go along for the ride. Springing of any sort on unpowered wheels is a recipe for disaster by taking adhesive weight off the powered wheels. And there is something seriously wrong if you can't get good pickup on a six-coupled loco from just the driving wheels.
I think Steve did a test of the first version and found it worked perfectly ok without the pony wheel pickups. As long as the ponies aren't lifting the driving wheels off the track then you should be ok with an 0-6-0 with all wheel pickup.
Have gotten Taw running well, think I got lucky slackened off the screws holding the centering springs on the pony wheels and removed the cow catchers and she trundled through the points without issue.
Exe on the other hand will be going back to where it came as the valve linkage came apart and I'm not fiddling about with that!
Oh dear, another one...
Hello, I'm new here. 1st post. Just got a Taw in the holly green livery and noticed the couplings supplied will need some modification beyond that stated in the instructions to clear the "cowcatchers" front and rear. Could this be why some are experiencing derailing problems ? I found carefully grinding away some material on the coupling shank underside helped. Also notice the front deck on mine had a pronounced downward slope, rather than being level, but the chassis and rest of body seemed fine with no gaps. If I tried to tweek it back into shape I could see this will exacerbate the coupling fouling at the front. My local shop would not supply me one of these locos because of the problems with the 1st version so I'm hoping for the best. Had to go to Model Railways Direct.
I have yet to get a layout up and running but have noted that some models, like these, will not take to "set-track" so have gone with Peco 009 flexi and 12" radius points for starters. Will run initially DC to test run but will be "upgrading" to DCC, already have the Piko "light" system bought, as soon as practical to get the full advantages of sound and multi-loco operation. I have come from the 16 mm/Fn3 garden railway world.
See that link I put up earlier, Max, they cover the things you mention! The NGRM thread also covers the same ground but from some different contributors but you have to be a member to read them hence i didn't put up a link.
With regards to radii, Heljan have said minimum 12" so that rules out Peco Setrack which is 9".
Quote from: Hobby on January 02, 2019, 08:54
See that link I put up earlier, Max, they cover the things you mention! The NGRM thread also covers the same ground but from some different contributors but you have to be a member to read them hence i didn't put up a link.
With regards to radii, Heljan have said minimum 12" so that rules out Peco Setrack which is 9".
Thank you for pointing it out. Quick scan shows that downward slope to the front deck seems to be a designed in feature. I take a good look at the topic.
Got my replacement Exe today :D and after a quick test run everything seems fine.