CCLR railway

[steinman]

ok gents

With my job in Oct, Nov and Dec I have little free time so by the time January roles round the track and the railway need some attention to get things moving , but with the dark nights and bad weather it gets left until the end of Feb or the start of March each year before some serious track cleaning takes place ( this year it was yesterday and I'm back running until the end of Sept) . I have no intention of swapping to battery power but have always thought that during the winter months it would be nice to have something to just put out and run, but when I've looked into battery power in the past the cost has scared me off.

Enter the Piko loco, when announced at around £170 I thought that it was just what I wanted so I was the first to pick one up when Darren got them in at Top Slots. first impressions were ok, but it seemed very slow, the first set of batteries from Poundland lasted around 2 hrs , my re- chargeable batteries lasted slightly less. However the more I use it the running time and performance gets worse, a friend of mine gave me some expensive rechargeable batteries to try but they were no better , running time now with new batteries or fully charge ones is around 20 mins with performance showing signs of dropping after only 5 mins or so .

I've checked the skates to ensure that they aren't causing unneccessary drag but they are fine , to be honest it really doesn't clean the track at all so I will probably take the skates off but that will be next winter as to be honest I've lost total interest in the loco, maybe I just got a duff one . Piko are releasing the same loco but with radio control later this year and I believe they use AAA as well , but I don't think I will be getting one.

This is just how I have found mine, maybe I got a duff one but it certainly isn't what I had hoped for, I know Darren sold a lot of these loco's so it would be interesting to see how others have found it , I know he likes his , I've not been in his shop since Xmas so must nip in , especially as I have a gift voucher to spend

 

[PhilP]

Like you say:
It runs slow, and is not a great track-cleaner...

It sounds like something is binding, somewhere. - Mine runs longer than that, but we are talking the 'standard' motor, being run off 6 x AAA batteries!

Watch this space, for a 'Pimp my Clean Machine' thread..

 

[Greg Elmassian]

steinman's is the 'standard' motor also, right?

It sounds like the motor is not up to par, perhaps excessive current being drawn, going from 120 minutes to 20 minutes is a drastic drop in performance, and you would expect the unit to have less moving friction as the "skates" wear.

Greg

 

[steinman]

Well my gazebo has finally rusted away after four years of service , so a new one was purchased in the Argos sale the plan was to put it up this afternoon, however trains needed to be tested first and it was rather hot outside , so the gazebo is still in its box but trains are still running , so that's half a job done at least

 

[Rhinochugger]

Well my gazebo has finally rusted away after four years of service , so a new one was purchased in the Argos sale the plan was to put it up this afternoon, however trains needed to be tested first and it was rather hot outside , so the gazebo is still in its box but trains are still running , so that's half a job done at least

View attachment 253914

View attachment 253915

Much better playing trains

 

[steinman]

A view from the back bedroom, most of this will be obscured once the new gazebo goes up

 

[steinman]

Yesterdays testing

 

[Rhinochugger]

It appears that yesterday was very testing

 

[mike]

Well tested

 

[kim]

Just catching up on this Rick, strange one about the Piko track cleaner. Mine runs great and keeps a nice shine on the brass. Missed you by 20 minutes or so on Saturday at Darrens.

 

[Gizzy]

ok gents

With my job in Oct, Nov and Dec I have little free time so by the time January roles round the track and the railway need some attention to get things moving , but with the dark nights and bad weather it gets left until the end of Feb or the start of March each year before some serious track cleaning takes place ( this year it was yesterday and I'm back running until the end of Sept) . I have no intention of swapping to battery power but have always thought that during the winter months it would be nice to have something to just put out and run, but when I've looked into battery power in the past the cost has scared me off.

Enter the Piko loco, when announced at around £170 I thought that it was just what I wanted so I was the first to pick one up when Darren got them in at Top Slots. first impressions were ok, but it seemed very slow, the first set of batteries from Poundland lasted around 2 hrs , my re- chargeable batteries lasted slightly less. However the more I use it the running time and performance gets worse, a friend of mine gave me some expensive rechargeable batteries to try but they were no better , running time now with new batteries or fully charge ones is around 20 mins with performance showing signs of dropping after only 5 mins or so .

I've checked the skates to ensure that they aren't causing unneccessary drag but they are fine , to be honest it really doesn't clean the track at all so I will probably take the skates off but that will be next winter as to be honest I've lost total interest in the loco, maybe I just got a duff one . Piko are releasing the same loco but with radio control later this year and I believe they use AAA as well , but I don't think I will be getting one.

This is just how I have found mine, maybe I got a duff one but it certainly isn't what I had hoped for, I know Darren sold a lot of these loco's so it would be interesting to see how others have found it , I know he likes his , I've not been in his shop since Xmas so must nip in , especially as I have a gift voucher to spend

My one, or rather Mizzy Gizzy's one, seems to work fine.

I took it to a mate's near Cambridge for a long run on his continuous line, and it ran fine.

I reckon you've got one made on a Friday. Maybe Top-slots can replace it for you....

 

[Gizzy]

ok gents

With my job in Oct, Nov and Dec I have little free time so by the time January roles round the track and the railway need some attention to get things moving , but with the dark nights and bad weather it gets left until the end of Feb or the start of March each year before some serious track cleaning takes place ( this year it was yesterday and I'm back running until the end of Sept) . I have no intention of swapping to battery power but have always thought that during the winter months it would be nice to have something to just put out and run, but when I've looked into battery power in the past the cost has scared me off.

Enter the Piko loco, when announced at around £170 I thought that it was just what I wanted so I was the first to pick one up when Darren got them in at Top Slots. first impressions were ok, but it seemed very slow, the first set of batteries from Poundland lasted around 2 hrs , my re- chargeable batteries lasted slightly less. However the more I use it the running time and performance gets worse, a friend of mine gave me some expensive rechargeable batteries to try but they were no better , running time now with new batteries or fully charge ones is around 20 mins with performance showing signs of dropping after only 5 mins or so .

I've checked the skates to ensure that they aren't causing unneccessary drag but they are fine , to be honest it really doesn't clean the track at all so I will probably take the skates off but that will be next winter as to be honest I've lost total interest in the loco, maybe I just got a duff one . Piko are releasing the same loco but with radio control later this year and I believe they use AAA as well , but I don't think I will be getting one.

This is just how I have found mine, maybe I got a duff one but it certainly isn't what I had hoped for, I know Darren sold a lot of these loco's so it would be interesting to see how others have found it , I know he likes his , I've not been in his shop since Xmas so must nip in , especially as I have a gift voucher to spend

My one, or rather Mizzy Gizzy's one, seems to work fine.

I took it to a mate's near Cambridge for a long run on his continuous line, and it ran fine.

I reckon you've got one made on a Friday. Maybe Top-slots can replace it for you....

 

[steinman]

Just catching up on this Rick, strange one about the Piko track cleaner. Mine runs great and keeps a nice shine on the brass. Missed you by 20 minutes or so on Saturday at Darrens.

Hi Kim

I've not been in to Darren's for a few weeks , too much temptation but I was in on Saturday and bought a Piko building for a bit of bashing. I will try and catch up with you over the summer mate , have a running session etc.. As for the Piko track cleaner I will have another bash with it when time allows , I know Darren says its a great seller and he has had no other complaints

 

[kim]

Hi Kim

I've not been in to Darren's for a few weeks , too much temptation but I was in on Saturday and bought a Piko building for a bit of bashing. I will try and catch up with you over the summer mate , have a running session etc.. As for the Piko track cleaner I will have another bash with it when time allows , I know Darren says its a great seller and he has had no other complaints

Look forward to a meet mate!

 

[PhilP]

They are a slow loco, but you should get about two hours??

Check there is nothing wrapped around an axle? - They will not get the 'stringing' of the LGB track cleaner, but you might have some garden-debris caught-up, perhaps?

Then it is a case of checking all the 'normal' mundane things:
Back to back.
Wheel twisted on axle.
Quartering.
Run it on it's back, can you see / hear any binding, or spots where it slows markedly?

T'would be interesting to know the cure, when you find it?

 

[steinman]

A sunny afternoon's Bank Holiday testing, its better than sitting in the traffic and joining the crowds

 

[steinman]

Some of you may of seen the two green LGB 24512's on E-bay this week , the seller advertised them as non runners which was a bit worrying but as these loco's don't appear for sale very often I decided to buy one of the two, I paid a bit more than I wanted to but what the hell.

The loco arrived this morning and both the loco and box are in very good condition, so I tried the loco on my analogue line , sound and lights but no movement, strange , I messed around with switch underneath but no joy , so on to the DCC line , again sound but nothing else, so with a repair bill looming the only thing I could think of was to readdress the loco and hey presto off she went , a bit reluctant at first but after 30 mins or so running seems fine, leaving me one happy chappy

 

[steinman]

Latest addition to the CCLR coaching fleet, spotted this at a silly low price being advertised on Ebay de , no box and a few scrapes but too cheap to pass up, the only problem is I have no other RHB coaches to go with it and no loco (at the moment )

 

[PhilP]

So, it WAS cheap...

but is now about to get a lot more expensive?

 

[steinman]

So, it WAS cheap...

but is now about to get a lot more expensive?

Probably Phil, but Xmas is on the horizon, and I've been a good lad honestly , the only thing with that is that last year I picked an LGB beer wagon for the family to buy me for Xmas ( far better than socks etc) , however Mrs J found it in a cupboard a few weeks ago and was rather miffed that I had forgotten all about it