Looking forward to seeing some photos!

My contribution to CS1/Ecos owners that own the thalys model:



(I hope the link to the ESU image galery works)

Bert

For those of you in the US who are planning to buy this model, prices at ajckids.com are very similar to lokshop.de (US$513 vs around $500). And after shipping is added, the US store may work out cheaper.

So after this stupid 10% discount rule, looks like US prices may be in par with German prices (both high in my opinion).

Oh god! I am lucky I didn't got it. It comes with this retarded cheap sound and a crappy motor. I rather spend my money on the ICN rather than this one..

Hello,

This is good news, but does the new Marklin Thalys run as slowly as the Marklin TGV POS? Perhaps they have worked out their decoder and gearing problems? Or, is it just a repaint?

Best,
George

.....it seems that those who complain here about speed are handling their layout with an Ecos....I would like to know how it is with a CS2 o MS2 because on some other forums I have not read any complain about speed...

I think Cyberbeast and others have hit the nail on the head. The TGV and Thalys need better decoders. I think I will cancel my Thalys order and opt for something with better performance and sound, or try to add interior lights to my Roco ICN!

I have cheaper Mehano TGVs and they run and sound better than the Marklin TGV. Of course, the Marklin TGV looks better... They're simply just better models and have interior lighting. I only wish that Marklin wouldn't be so half-assed. It seems out of character for them, especially when you consider buying the base Thalys unit and all add on cars, which costs upwards of $1000 USD. Pity, because I love that train.

George

Did you check the wiring or are you just guessing?

They found this out on the Stummi-forum. I could be fixed but I wouldn't try it. I've never even soldered one single piece in my life, let alone I'd change an entire 750€ TGV :p

I wonder if the speed is prototypical if it's faster than the TGV.
Better sound? ESU decoder and big speaker (tube), I presume.

H All,
I received my 37790 TGV Set early December, After a few runs on my table top test track I thought it was a bit slow, but I am waiting for all the add on sets to arrive and a run on a large layout to make a call on this, (two arrived Jan, one ready to ship now) I read on this forum before Xmas, comments about the M TGV's lack of speed and I can confirm that, yes it seems rather slow . Especially compared to my 37780 ICE 3 which I run as an 8 car train on our modular layout, where someone checked it at about 1 metre per second speed, thats near as damitt to prototypical max speed 330KMH
One thing I noticed when putting the TGV back in the box was a lot of apparent wear of the black anodizing, on the driving wheels of both end cars, which says to me that the speed of the two Power Cars are not that well matched which would have an adverse effect on top speed.
All that said the appearance and detailing are excellent, but I've not seen another TGV model to compare it with. The sounds at only one end leave a bit to be desired, makes me appreciate my 37605 VT 11.5 all the more
I'll keep you all posted on my findings.

I use two circuit tracks and a laptop.
https://www.marklin-user...o-a-MRR-speedometer.aspx

I must disagree in a friendly way about the last posting. The Thalys speed is too slow, and so is the acceleration. The sounds are also poor. Run another train at the same time and you will not be able to hear any of the TGV sounds. The train can't get out of its own way. If you have long straights (3 or 4 meters) it really looks slow. Then, the train gets passed easily by many loks, including a Marklin GG-1. It even messes up my computer-operated track signals because it makes the other trains behind it slow and stop so much. I do not like to run trains quickly. I think running them fast makes them look like toys. But, too slow is too slow.

What I've learned from all of this is that I will not buy expensive trains like the TGV from Marklin before I actually see them run. I have been collecting for a long time, and never thought I'd say that. My advice is to save your money. Surely Marklin knew this. My only guess is that they just didn't care.

Hi,

I picked up my Thalys and it's first expansion set today. So this evening it had its first laps on my layout as a 6-part train.
First impression: it is indeed a bit faster than TGV POS.

Both running at full speed, TGV POS (the complete 10-part train) had an average speed of 210 km/h. Thalys reached an average of 270 km/h.
That's a big difference, but going up-hill on my helix the TGV POS slows down quite a bit. It does so after growing from 6 to 8 parts. So for a fair test I will have to expand the Thalys with 4 of the POS-cars, and see how it behaves as a 10-part train (with a funny color scheme). I will let you know the results.

I will take a while before Thalys is full-grown. The last expansion set is now scheduled for Q4 2011. Patience is a good thing...

I got mine yesterday and I'm very pleased with it. Indeed the colors are very nice, very well painted. Also it runs very smoothly on my layout and speed is more than ok for me. I probably will not extend it...

Frank

I did some more test running with the Thalys today.
There's good news and there's bad news . The bad news is that it does slow down up-hill . The good news: not as much as the POS .

First, I had the Thalys running a few laps in it's original 6 unit state. With the speed bar at 80% it did a comfortable 220 km/h. At full speed I measured 267 km/h, quite fast by all means.

Then, I gave it two extra expansion sets, coming from the POS. So now it had a full-grown 10-unit state. Again running some laps at 80%, it showed an average speed of 222 km/h, so exactly the same (+2 km) as with 6 units. At full speed with all 10 units it came to 245 km/h, more then 20 km slower then the 6 units. This is mainly due to poor climbing: up-hill you can see it slow down. But again: not as much as the TGV POS.

So conclusion: a 10-unit Thalys compared to a 10-unit TGV POS
- top speed is some 270 km/h.
- average top speed (including up-hill) is 245 (POS is 210 km/h)
- Both show poor climbing, a visible slow-down, with more than 6 units.

It looks like the Märklin technicians did some fine-tuning on the model, after the critics on TGV POS. And they succeeded with some 15% improvement. My guess is the difference is only some internal settings on engines/decoders, but maybe someone else can shed some light on this.

Some more observations:
(1) The part of my layout-under-construction that I used for this test, is normally powered by a booster 6017, which in turn is powered by a transformer 6002. For this test I rewired it, so I could use the CS-2 and a transformer 60052. After testing I put the old booster back in place (which, AFAIK, gives a little less power to the tracks) and now both Thalys and TGV POS had even bigger trouble getting up the helix. So this model is quite sensitive to small power differences.
(2) Do not mix TGV POS and Thalys cars. The colors don't go well together
(3) A TGV POS or a Thalys with 10 units at full speed has quite some mass. At some point it came to a brake module which was red. Well, 6 tracks brake section plus 1 track stop section could not stop this train. Something to keep in mind if you want to run full speed...
(4) I love them both

Got home from a business trip to Europe and was happy that my Thalys had arrived. Then I opened it...it had a very rough ride and is damaged. Waiting on a reply as to how to get it replaced...

Good news! My dealer has another Thalys that he is going to ship out to me as a replacement. I will let everyone know how this works out.

It was from a US dealer and well packed. Just rough handling in transit. The replacement Thalys was shipped to me today. Once this is all taken care of, I will post the dealer's name. At first, I was upset, but now, I am impressed with how this is being handled. More soon...

Dermodellbahnchecker (scale) top speed results of a few Marklin models for comparison:
39121 - E10 : 195 kph
37571 - BR103: 232 kph
37308 - Rh1012: 211 kph

Three different models with three different motors.
All weigh between 500g and 600g; the E10 and 103 has so much pulling power that they're unlikely to slow down in inclines...
(tensile force measurements on those two match or exceed a BR50 decapod).

My replacement Thalys arrived on Wednesday, but I was traveling and just got home. I really need to post a shout out to Guy at AJCKIDS. He replied within about an hour (in the evening no less) of me e-mailing him about the damage to the first set and sent me a replacement within 24hrs. He also arranged for UPS to pick up the damaged one at no cost to me. He went the extra mile to super package the replacement unit which arrived in excellent condition.

This is good, old fashioned service that you rarely see these days. Guy turned what could have been a very fustrating experience into a real positive. We only have a handful of Marklin dealers left here in the US, but it is good to know that Guy is one that we can count on to provide good pricing and great service.

THANKS GUY!