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Offline pab-windmills  
#51 Posted : 06 January 2015 04:24:58(UTC)
pab-windmills

United States   
Joined: 02/03/2007(UTC)
Posts: 79
Location: Haverhill, MA
Hi Akers,

Wow! I bet you would never have guessed that your question would result in so many responses! BigGrin

My layout is Scandinavian. As Roco manufactures quite a few loks and wagons for those railways, I have their products running on my layout. The locomotives run beautifully. Very smooth operation, and the sound dekoders are excellent. As far as the wagons are concerned, both their AC and DC wheels run fine on my c-track. I have yet had to change out wheelsets on a Roco piece, or any other manufacturer for that matter.

If you really have your heart set on the Roco lok, go for it!

Paul B

thanks 2 users liked this useful post by pab-windmills
H0GLI
Offline mike c  
#52 Posted : 06 January 2015 07:14:55(UTC)
mike c

Canada   
Joined: 28/11/2007(UTC)
Posts: 7,880
Location: Montreal, QC
Originally Posted by: mrmarklin Go to Quoted Post
I wouldn't waste a dime on Roco Loks.Cursing

They are largely plastic and use tender drive. They are designed as DC Loks first, and only adapted to Marklin running later. While I have seen some run well on Marklin track, I've seen just as many not do so well. My experience with brand "X" Loks is that while more detailed sometimes, you'll tend to find this detail littering your layout.

Marklin Loks have metal boilers and increasingly, metal tenders as well. Go for the quality.BigGrin


In addition there are no price guides so resale value is very low.


I would not pay too much attention to a comment like this by one of the Maerklin or die adherents. I have over 50 Maerklin loks in my collection and an equal number of loks from other manufacturers. I have not as yet run into a single issue with any of my Roco loks.
Some Maerklin models have metal bodies and chassis. Others will have metal chassis and plastic body or a mix of metal and plastic parts in the body (e.g. plastic cab, metal boiler). This is usually specified in the item description.

Plastic bodies offer the possibility of increased detail. Many manufacturers offer very fine detail added parts which can be added to the model.
If you are buying a model because it is Maerklin and you are concerned about resale value, listen to Mr. Marklin.

If you are buying a model because that particular model interests you, and perhaps, Maerklin does not make that model, then go ahead and check out other manufacturer's offerings.

Today's Maerklin models are no better in quality than the top offerings from companies like LSM, Roco and others. Your best bet before buying any model (even Maerklin) is to google the model to see what reviews and comments you can find.

Regards

Mike C
thanks 3 users liked this useful post by mike c
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Offline jvuye  
#53 Posted : 06 January 2015 10:09:47(UTC)
jvuye

Belgium   
Joined: 01/03/2008(UTC)
Posts: 2,881
Location: South Western France
Originally Posted by: mike c Go to Quoted Post
Originally Posted by: mrmarklin Go to Quoted Post
I wouldn't waste a dime on Roco Loks.Cursing

They are largely plastic and use tender drive. They are designed as DC Loks first, and only adapted to Marklin running later. While I have seen some run well on Marklin track, I've seen just as many not do so well. My experience with brand "X" Loks is that while more detailed sometimes, you'll tend to find this detail littering your layout.

Marklin Loks have metal boilers and increasingly, metal tenders as well. Go for the quality.BigGrin


In addition there are no price guides so resale value is very low.


I would not pay too much attention to a comment like this by one of the Maerklin or die adherents. I have over 50 Maerklin loks in my collection and an equal number of loks from other manufacturers. I have not as yet run into a single issue with any of my Roco loks.
Some Maerklin models have metal bodies and chassis. Others will have metal chassis and plastic body or a mix of metal and plastic parts in the body (e.g. plastic cab, metal boiler). This is usually specified in the item description.

Plastic bodies offer the possibility of increased detail. Many manufacturers offer very fine detail added parts which can be added to the model.
If you are buying a model because it is Maerklin and you are concerned about resale value, listen to Mr. Marklin.

If you are buying a model because that particular model interests you, and perhaps, Maerklin does not make that model, then go ahead and check out other manufacturer's offerings.

Today's Maerklin models are no better in quality than the top offerings from companies like LSM, Roco and others. Your best bet before buying any model (even Maerklin) is to google the model to see what reviews and comments you can find.

Regards

Mike C


Well said, cannot agree more.

I have been "practicing" Marklin for over 60 years now, and it has always been excellent quality....but, occasionally here and there something strange would appear.

For example, I remember when the pretty 3049 BR E04/104 appeared, it was a "hit and miss" in terms of gear noise. That's when I learned to analyse gear teeth profiles and discovered that some gears were really good, some others were terrible. At the time most gear were stamped with a die. Smart to do so because an inexpensive process, but only valid if you keep the die within tolerance. It seemed at the time that Marklin may have "pushed it" a bit producing lots of gears that were no longer acceptable. That's also when I started curing the problem by replacing/ cutting gears myself.

Again today those quirks appear here and there (not just with M, with everyone!)

The various versions of the recent Re 4/4 I of Marklin (I have 5 of these ) are at best "uneven" in running quality!
The one from my Bavaria set is an absolute Marvel, but the exact same one in one of my friends' set s a real coffee grinder, especially in curves.

My copy of the new Lyria TGV is also puzzling: two identical powered cars obviously from the smae production batch, one is silky smooth, the other one is shaky as hell , although they are both driven from the same one and only decoder

The new Rae TEE is fantastic, super finish, the lights are perfect, runs as a dream, but the couplers are made of non resilient, non flexible material: they don't couple reliably, and ultimately break after multiple attemps to re-connect. And I won't talk about the corny set of sounds! (This is supposed to model the Cisalpino ,Paris to Milano, and the platform announcement is a goofy "Gleis funf TEE nach Amsterdam" in some colorful Swiss dialect)

I have recently bought a few ROCO because Marklin does not make the models. Beautiful , and perfect so far in terms of running characteristics but some of the detail pieces continue to fall off!

I agree that it is very hard to try to both obtain 1 dpm (defect per million) level in model RR production, because it is costly to implement thing like SPC (statistical control process)

Why is it hard?

Because we, the Marklin users, are probably not ready to pay Marklin the price that would allow them to implement systems for design and production that would guarantee even a 100 dpm defect levels.

The closest I have come to such levels at affordable prices was KATO, made in Japan, but that was back in the 1990's. And the price was very affordable, because that's how they had engaged in manufacturing systems from the very start!

So ***I live with it***, and try to mitigate by myself most of the really annoying problems I sometime find on some of my new locos.
Those who fail become shelf-queens until I get a new ideaon how to fix it.

And that's also where I find pleasure with my model RR activity.

To each his own.

Cheers
Jacques Vuye aka Dr.Eisenbahn
Once a vandal, learned to be better and had great success!
thanks 4 users liked this useful post by jvuye
Offline akerstdi  
#54 Posted : 06 January 2015 14:11:47(UTC)
akerstdi

United States   
Joined: 29/12/2013(UTC)
Posts: 82
Originally Posted by: pab-windmills Go to Quoted Post
Hi Akers,

Wow! I bet you would never have guessed that your question would result in so many responses! BigGrin

My layout is Scandinavian. As Roco manufactures quite a few loks and wagons for those railways, I have their products running on my layout. The locomotives run beautifully. Very smooth operation, and the sound dekoders are excellent. As far as the wagons are concerned, both their AC and DC wheels run fine on my c-track. I have yet had to change out wheelsets on a Roco piece, or any other manufacturer for that matter.

If you really have your heart set on the Roco lok, go for it!

Paul B



Paul,

You are absolutely right, This thread has gone way past my expectations! But, I was asking for opinions, and got exactly what I was hoping for! Thanks to everyone for passing on their personal experiences and wisdom. Don't let this post be an end to the thread, as I am always eager to learn as much as I can.

Doran
thanks 3 users liked this useful post by akerstdi
Offline hxmiesa  
#55 Posted : 07 January 2015 13:25:52(UTC)
hxmiesa

Spain   
Joined: 15/12/2005(UTC)
Posts: 3,519
Location: Spain
Not the "politically correct" solution, -but definatly a practical well-working one, is to assure that the wheel-spacing for Märklin M and K tracks is exactly 13,9mm. Even with incorrect wheel profile, this solution will eliminate derailing problems over all switches.
I simply PRESS the wheels together with a pair of plyers. (Normal DC wheel-spacing is around 14,1mm).
If I need un-isolated wheels, I first separate the wheels from the axle, and then insert a small piece of a copper wire into the holow plastic-axle, and then fit the wheels again; -You know; that flismy hair-thin wiring that you can find in older telephone and ethernet calbing.
Even works on my latest string of 6 1:87 length (303mm) Rheingold D-wagens from Rivarossi.

Edit; Sorry to add this later; @RayF; I used a plyer once, but the better way is of course to tap away lightly on the wheel-set (sandwiched between wooden blocks) Of course one must be careful, and not too heavy-handed! lol
Best regards
Henrik Hoexbroe ("The Dane In Spain")
http://hoexbroe.tripod.com
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Offline RayF  
#56 Posted : 07 January 2015 13:39:16(UTC)
RayF

Gibraltar   
Joined: 14/03/2005(UTC)
Posts: 15,838
Location: Gibraltar, Europe
Thanks Henrik.

I can be a bit heavy handed sometimes and am reluctant to attack a perfectly good set of wheels with a pair of pliers, but I now have a box full of DC wheels I've swapped out previously, so I might try my hand at this simple solution. If I ruin a couple of wheels it's no big deal.
Ray
Mostly Marklin.Selection of different eras and European railways
Small C track layout, control by MS2, 100+ trains but run 4-5 at a time.
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