Slow running
Playing about this evening I tried the Roco 4-4-0 for slow running. Over a measured three feet of freshly cleaned track and wheels using a Gaugemaster model D controller this loco took fifty four minutes to complete the distance. A new Fleischmann 2-4-0 was a bit disappointing at six minutes and the little Roco Glaskasten managed a creditable 35....no, not minutes, seconds. Does anyone else waste time on such trivialities? :D Brian.

Yes! The slowest running loco I have is a Brawa Kof. Cannot remember how slow it could go for a metre but it appeared to be barely moving. Bernard Lamb

I am glad not to be the only loony around here, welcome Bernard. In fact I belittled the Glaskasten ( if that's possible) I only timed it over one foot hence for a yard ( if anyone remembers them) it should have been 105 sec. Brian.

Hmm, I think I may be able to trounce those (just)... :-) Over a 4 foot length of track under normal conditions (i.e. not freshly cleaned, and with pointwork) at Derby show last year my Brawa V15 managed to give enough time for one of us to have lunch, a trip to the bathroom, get served at the bar (2 pints of bitter, please) and get back to the layout before it needed reversing. The control system was Lenz; Compact, Gold Mini and Power 1. Lovely stuff. And yes, my Weinert V36 was nearly as good ;-) Steph

Mind you Steph, the Roco over 4' would have recorded 72 minutes. Plenty of time for a bite to eat and a couple of pints. :D The performance of these continental models has surprised me. The latest Hornby M7 properly run in covers the measured 3' in 45 seconds and that is the best from a small collection of Hornby and Bachmann. :cry: Brian.

Gents, I thought Hmm, I wonder would my Brawa V2 compare with your findings? Even with rubber band drive, performance was as Steph described.This little gem was branded !sale faulty running! and marked up at 20 Marks. This was run on a Fleischmann controller. Regards David

Plenty of time for a bite to eat and a couple of pints. Enough drinks to forget all about the slow running critter :shock: Yes, incredible slow moving. Luckily not allowed on the mainline of the layout. I wonder how long to cover the 14.4m of the visible line of my layout , if the exhibition times are enough including nighttime running. Jacq

Slow Running - Trix BR 01
The Trix BR 01 without sound, cat #22022, behaves just like these on an MRC DCC power unit, going almost slower than you could ever want in practice. However, one of the several power systems it claims to "recognize" is ordinary analog DC. It starts at 7.5 V (!) and will just run steadily at 7 V, at a "slow running" scale speed of 40 or 50 km/h. It's now on its way back to Germany even faster for gremlin removal. Tim's right, the old solutions are often the best, using a Roco loco with Weinert wheels, an accurate tender and a few altered details. Has anyone else suffered from this, even after adjusting the acceleration rate? David

David, If you wanted slow running you picked the wrong decoder. The Trix 01 had a coreless motor i thought? Which means that ESU or Zimo are the only manufacturers (in my experience) who are able to drive them effectively. Most conventional motors require higher voltage to get them started (theyr'e somewhat less efficient) so using a normal decoder will give a coreless motor too much voltage (speed) at start. There are very few American models with modern efficient cans, let alone coreless motors so buying inexpensive American-made DCC decoders to use with quality, European models is not the way to go IMHO. And I still can't understand why you'd want to fit a DCC decoder and then drive the loco on an analogue controller. By its very nature it's a compromise - and leaving the option on the decoder compromises both DCC and analogue operation. And I'm going to stick with my re-wheeled, detailed Roco BR01s - to my eyes they look more convincing than either the Trix or Precision Craft models... Steph

Slow Running - Trix BR 01
Hallo Steph, Being dyed-in-the-wool and ancient I have never wanted chips with my engines. I've even removed them from a few locos that were only available in digital form, though not from the two by Lenz. I'm afraid the decoder picked me, in the sense that you can't buy a Trix 01 without. I too thought that it would have a coreless motor - as in the BR 55, 45 and 290, all of which run very nicely without chips. The motor looks like a Maxon or Faulhaber but is in fact a Märklin "Compact C-Sinus". The earlier C-Sinus motor was a larger diameter 11-pole affair to fit the traditional Märklin transverse mounting. Talking to two friends with digital experience confirms my impression that the C-Sinus is an AC motor, possibly brushless. My German dealer thinks it is a DC motor (so I could disconnect it from the PCB) but wants to send the loco back to Märklin, so I've taken his advice. We'll see what happens. There's little to chose between the looks of the three makes of BR 01 but PCM and Trix have more accurate cabs and tenders, though the Trix one doesn't have the refinement of separate tank fillers with operating levers and free-standing lamps. The "cooking" PCM 01 has a Maxon motor and the only electronics are the LEDs for the lights, a connector for a chip and mountings for the loudspeakers I hope the above clarifies my position. I'm beyond digital salvation! David