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Nightowl4933		#1 Posted : 11 January 2009 22:22:24(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 09/02/2008(UTC) Posts: 972 Location: North Wiltshire		I'm an avid Z gauge model railroader, having spent a shed load of money on a layout offering over 40m of track and 7 locos with passenger and 'themed' goods trains. The problem is I've always preferred HO gauge, but I didn't (and still don't) have the space for HO. However, I've just bought an old Marklin HAMO loco on eBay (Item No: 220338018328) purely for display - because I know it won't fit on the track - but I wonder if someone would tell me more about it? It's not listed on the Marklin website because it's quite old and one day when the kids have moved out, I'll revert to HO. Thanks, Pete
		Living on Earth is expensive, but it does include a free trip around the sun every year. Z Scale is great - where's me glasses?
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Rowan		#2 Posted : 11 January 2009 22:34:24(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 09/04/2006(UTC) Posts: 1,278 Location: Brisbane, Queensland		Welcome to the forum mate, enjoy. I'm into Z , and also HO. Go for it. We would love to see and hear about your Z railway.There is on the forum a great place called "Me and my layout", hope too catch you there one day.
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Brakepad		#3 Posted : 11 January 2009 22:38:04(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 25/08/2008(UTC) Posts: 633 Location: Montlouis sur Loire, France		It's a BR38, locomotive all-metal, plastic tender. A very "typical" Märklin item. It's a hamo, so it's for use on 2-rail layouts (although it can be converted to 3-rail with some skills and a digital decoder). You'll like it when you get it, and if you could run it on the track you would love it. I own three of these, one with a Delta chip and a LED which simulates the fire, and it's one of my favourites. And no, you are not "loco"...I think that if you have purchased the first one, it's almost sure that you'll buy some more soon.
		check out http://maerklin-back-on-track.blogspot.com if you like to see how old Märklin locos are brought back into life! (in spanish by the moment)
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ozzman		#4 Posted : 11 January 2009 23:13:34(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 23/11/2007(UTC) Posts: 1,828 Location: Sydney, Australia		Welcome to the forum Pete. You sound like an Aussie or Kiwi. Are you loco? You've started with good intentions, but we all know it won't stop there - Brakepad got it right. It's this one now, then another, then another and in a few years you'll end up with a full stable of HO loks. It's a bit like just having a little drink - in almost no time you end up paralytic in the gutter.
		Gary Z Scale "Never let the prototype get in the way of a good layout"
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MARKLIN LOVER		#5 Posted : 12 January 2009 02:57:41(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 27/12/2007(UTC) Posts: 488 Location: Bronx, NY		Nightowl think of it this way, by the time the kids move out, you will have a nice big collection of HO trains and then you wont need to spend as much on Trains at that moment and time, just on track and HO items. Enjoy it and don't worry about it, i don't have room for any GAUGE 1 Marklin but i know i will be buying at least 1 Gauge 1 sometime this year 2009, so have fun, look at it, if u go to a buddies house with an HO Layout, take it with you and you may just be able to run it there, but worry not, this hobby can be addicting, head over to ME and MY LAYOUT, and post pics of your Z world! We love pics here!
		Keep em on the rails! Ivan!
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Nightowl4933		#6 Posted : 12 January 2009 22:10:38(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 09/02/2008(UTC) Posts: 972 Location: North Wiltshire		Hi guys, and thanks for your comments. Let me answer a few of them... 1. My layout will appear on the appropiate forum soon - I just need to finalise the drawing on AnyRail 2. I'm not sure if I want to use 3- or 2-rail, but I'm inclined towards 3-rail - it#s what I had as a child, but I'm not too keen on the look of the new Marklin C-track - I liked the old tin stuff :-) - but I wonder of it's an improvement in the look? I've not seen it for real! 3. Nope, neither Aussie or Kiwi - born and bred a Brit! My excuse for doing model railways is a lack of habits (good and bad) and hobbies - so I'm alright on that score (it's not cheap though, is it!) 4. Erm, as sad as this sounds, I don't have buddies who have this interest - I'm a bit of a closet modeller :-(
		Living on Earth is expensive, but it does include a free trip around the sun every year. Z Scale is great - where's me glasses?
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ozzman		#7 Posted : 13 January 2009 04:00:26(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 23/11/2007(UTC) Posts: 1,828 Location: Sydney, Australia		"Erm, as sad as this sounds, I don't have buddies who have this interest - I'm a bit of a closet modeller :-(" It's a sad commentary on our society that a lot of people see this hobby as eccentric at best, or a waste of time, or somehow unmanly. Orthodoxy rules. NOT OK!!! And yes, it isn't cheap [:0]
		Gary Z Scale "Never let the prototype get in the way of a good layout"
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Nightowl4933		#8 Posted : 15 January 2009 21:25:56(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 09/02/2008(UTC) Posts: 972 Location: North Wiltshire		Hooray, hooray, it arrived okay today... ...but what's the springy plunger looking thing underneath the loco, and is that a wire from the loco to the tender? Should I now buy some 2- or 3-rail track :-)
		Living on Earth is expensive, but it does include a free trip around the sun every year. Z Scale is great - where's me glasses?
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Brakepad		#9 Posted : 15 January 2009 22:05:47(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 25/08/2008(UTC) Posts: 633 Location: Montlouis sur Loire, France		Hi Pete, Do you mean a kind of "metal button" that is under the chassis? If so, it's some sort of "contact" used in 2-rail fleischmann systems for train detection (or I've told so). If your loco was a 3-rail model, it would have a slider, which is not round but long and quite thin. For using this loco you need 2-rail tracks. But have in mind that Hamo-range is not as wide as Märklin...but you can complete it with trix models. You can also convert it to 3-rail (Märklin system). Best regards.
		check out http://maerklin-back-on-track.blogspot.com if you like to see how old Märklin locos are brought back into life! (in spanish by the moment)
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Nightowl4933		#10 Posted : 16 January 2009 00:00:56(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 09/02/2008(UTC) Posts: 972 Location: North Wiltshire		So to test it on a track (rather than wires from the controller) what 2-rail track would I need? Also, if I convert it to Märklin 3-rail, wouldn't that be a problem if I want to use Märklin track? Thanks,
		Living on Earth is expensive, but it does include a free trip around the sun every year. Z Scale is great - where's me glasses?
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Brakepad		#11 Posted : 16 January 2009 00:07:32(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 25/08/2008(UTC) Posts: 633 Location: Montlouis sur Loire, France		Almost any 2-rail H0 track will be fine if you want to test run the loco. If you want to convert the loco to 3-rail, you need to remove the "plunger" under the loco and carry out some soldering.
		check out http://maerklin-back-on-track.blogspot.com if you like to see how old Märklin locos are brought back into life! (in spanish by the moment)
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Nightowl4933		#12 Posted : 19 January 2009 15:52:42(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 09/02/2008(UTC) Posts: 972 Location: North Wiltshire		Thanks for that, Brakepad. Is this loco digital or analogue, or would you need more information to be able to tell me? I haven't had the chance (or the facilities) to run it, yet, but I might take a look at the 'guts' soon. I'm still trying to decide what track I'm going to use and would be reluctant to start buying stuff I'm not going to use! Pete
		Living on Earth is expensive, but it does include a free trip around the sun every year. Z Scale is great - where's me glasses?
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Brakepad		#13 Posted: : 19 January 2009 20:52:55(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 25/08/2008(UTC) Posts: 633 Location: Montlouis sur Loire, France		Hi Pete, Unless it has been already converted (and if it had been, I think the seller would have written about it in the auction), your Hamo lok is analog. As far as I know, no Hamo lok had a factory fitted decoder. If you want to test it with no track, you can use your Z-gauge trafo, connecting one of the wires to the wheels from one side, the other wire to the other side wheels. Just to check how it runs, if it's noisy or not (mainly for maintenance purposes).
		check out http://maerklin-back-on-track.blogspot.com if you like to see how old Märklin locos are brought back into life! (in spanish by the moment)
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Nightowl4933		#14 Posted : 19 January 2009 22:29:44(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 09/02/2008(UTC) Posts: 972 Location: North Wiltshire		Erm, it doesn't run at all - and I've checked the trafo with a Z gauge loco. It's definitely a 2-rail loco because there is no pick-up shoe! I guess I'll have to send it back :-(
		Living on Earth is expensive, but it does include a free trip around the sun every year. Z Scale is great - where's me glasses?
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Brakepad		#15 Posted : 19 January 2009 22:57:02(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 25/08/2008(UTC) Posts: 633 Location: Montlouis sur Loire, France		Be careful, have you checked that the lights "lit" when you give current to the wheels?
		check out http://maerklin-back-on-track.blogspot.com if you like to see how old Märklin locos are brought back into life! (in spanish by the moment)
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Nightowl4933		#16 Posted : 20 January 2009 00:15:50(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 09/02/2008(UTC) Posts: 972 Location: North Wiltshire		No, the lights didn't light up, either :-( Should they have done?
		Living on Earth is expensive, but it does include a free trip around the sun every year. Z Scale is great - where's me glasses?
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Nightowl4933		#17 Posted : 20 January 2009 14:38:20(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 09/02/2008(UTC) Posts: 972 Location: North Wiltshire		You know, the more I think about this, the more I'm inclined to stick with Z gauge. I've got a reasonably good collection and I quite like the idea of longer runs and intermediate stations which is much easier at such a small size. Hopefully, when the kids move out, I can persuade 'er indoors to let me have one of the bedrooms if I promise not to overrun it ;-) with track. It's ideal at 7' 6" wide and 20' long! Pete
		Living on Earth is expensive, but it does include a free trip around the sun every year. Z Scale is great - where's me glasses?
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Brakepad		#18 Posted : 22 January 2009 00:31:27(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 25/08/2008(UTC) Posts: 633 Location: Montlouis sur Loire, France		Pete, be careful. The fact that you did not see the lights on suggests that maybe you did not apply current to the proper wheels...on these Hamo loks not all wheels pick current up. You'll see a small pickup plate in the place where the pickup shoe used to be in 3-rail loks. In one side, only two wheels pick current up, and these are the ones to use. in BR38, for sure, one of them is the second of the coupled axles. So maybe you can try again applying current on this axle.
		check out http://maerklin-back-on-track.blogspot.com if you like to see how old Märklin locos are brought back into life! (in spanish by the moment)
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Nightowl4933		#19 Posted : 22 January 2009 01:41:40(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 09/02/2008(UTC) Posts: 972 Location: North Wiltshire		Hi Brakepad, When I tested it, one of the wires was laid on one of the wheels and the other wire on the other side, but nothing happened. I'm not sure which side was connected, but the frame sparked slightly when I brushed the cable under the chassis, so I knew a connection was made. I then tried the other wire on each of the wheels on the other side - including the ones on the tender (I wasn't what the wire was between the loco and the tender) - but still nothing. I think that makes sense - do you think I may have covered all aspects? Thanks, Pete
		Living on Earth is expensive, but it does include a free trip around the sun every year. Z Scale is great - where's me glasses?
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Brakepad		#20 Posted : 22 January 2009 21:55:03(UTC) Retweet
Joined: 25/08/2008(UTC) Posts: 633 Location: Montlouis sur Loire, France		I think that maybe you got a short circuit. Try to just connect one wire to one wheel in the second coupled axle, the other wire to the other wheel in the same axle. The lights should go on, and the motor run. If no lights & no motor= two failures at the same time (very unlikely) or contact problems (more likely)
		check out http://maerklin-back-on-track.blogspot.com if you like to see how old Märklin locos are brought back into life! (in spanish by the moment)
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