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Offline kweekalot  
#1 Posted : 09 October 2012 17:56:36(UTC)
kweekalot

Netherlands   
Joined: 27/06/2012(UTC)
Posts: 3,435
Location: Holland
Hi all,

On a lazy day 5 weeks ago I took a glance in a 1964 Faller AMS catalog.
I realized immediately that my dream to become a rich man is definitively over, because I will spoil all my money on Faller AMS.

In 1970 I saw for the first time Faller AMS, but the last 40 years I had a bit forgotten how beautiful it is.
But now I have decided to start collecting AMS and use it on our layout.

Today the postman was my best friend and brought me starters kit 4000 (version 2) that was in the Faller program from 1964 to 1967.
As you know the postman always rings twice so he also brought me set 4001 (version 1.2) that was in the Faller program only in 1964/65.

Both sets are in very good condition, not mint, but almost mint.
I'm already in love with the lovely dashboard speed controllers.

You must have seen the faces of my two boys when they arrived from school and saw the AMS boxes.

Now I have to nag great webmaster Juhan for a AMS corner on our beloved forum.

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Offline hennabm  
#2 Posted : 09 October 2012 18:15:20(UTC)
hennabm

Scotland   
Joined: 22/09/2009(UTC)
Posts: 2,040
Location: Edinburgh,
Hi Marco

A great looking pair of AMS.ThumpUp

Are you going to build these into your 50s layout as well?

Mike
1957 - 1985 era
What's digital?
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Offline Ian555  
#3 Posted : 09 October 2012 18:26:36(UTC)
Ian555

Scotland   
Joined: 04/06/2009(UTC)
Posts: 20,235
Location: Scotland
Hi Marco,

OK you win. Drool

What's the best site to find Faller AMS on....thanks.

Ian.

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Offline kweekalot  
#4 Posted : 09 October 2012 18:41:22(UTC)
kweekalot

Netherlands   
Joined: 27/06/2012(UTC)
Posts: 3,435
Location: Holland
Hi Mike,

Thank you !!

Yes, I also do some AMS track on my solid center rail layout.
And I'll make a separate AMS layout coming months, maybe the Solitude track, I'm still orientating.

Marco
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Offline kweekalot  
#5 Posted : 09 October 2012 19:00:00(UTC)
kweekalot

Netherlands   
Joined: 27/06/2012(UTC)
Posts: 3,435
Location: Holland
Hi Ian,

Yes, it would be great if more members start with the Faller AMS, including you !!

Ebay.de is the place to be.
After 4 weeks of orientating, I have bought my two sets also on Ebay.de (for a total of € 170,= including shipping).

You don't need to buy starter boxes, everything is also separately largely available.
Be aware that there are several different types of track pieces, with brown border or white border, with a smooth or ribbed profile....

I find the brown borders not very pretty, but that's a matter of taste.
On the webiste of Faller AMS club Sweden is a lot of information.

Marco
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Offline Mark5  
#6 Posted : 09 October 2012 19:07:04(UTC)
Mark5

Canada   
Joined: 29/01/2012(UTC)
Posts: 1,420
Location: Montreal, Canada
Hi Marco,

I look forward to seeing the slot car and train integration!

Was just telling Brandon that I was feeling nostalgic about slot car racing.
We had the Aurora slot cars as a kid.

Cheers!
-- Mark

But don't stop at integrating cars and trains, make sure you include a fish pond on your set with live fish! Wink
DB DR FS NS SNCF c. 1950-65, fan of station architecture esp. from 1920-70.
In single point perspective, where do track lines meet?
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Offline Ian555  
#7 Posted : 09 October 2012 19:23:39(UTC)
Ian555

Scotland   
Joined: 04/06/2009(UTC)
Posts: 20,235
Location: Scotland
Hi Marco,

Thanks, I'll go and have a look. ThumpUp

Ian.

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Offline cookee_nz  
#8 Posted : 10 October 2012 00:20:06(UTC)
cookee_nz

New Zealand   
Joined: 31/12/2010(UTC)
Posts: 3,948
Location: Paremata, Wellington
Originally Posted by: kweekalot Go to Quoted Post
Hi all,

On a lazy day 5 weeks ago I took a glance in a 1964 Faller AMS catalog.
I realized immediately that my dream to become a rich man is definitively over, because I will spoil all my money on Faller AMS.

In 1970 I saw for the first time Faller AMS, but the last 40 years I had a bit forgotten how beautiful it is.
But now I have decided to start collecting AMS and use it on our layout.

Today the postman was my best friend and brought me starters kit 4000 (version 2) that was in the Faller program from 1964 to 1967.
As you know the postman always rings twice so he also brought me set 4001 (version 1.2) that was in the Faller program only in 1964/65.

Both sets are in very good condition, not mint, but almost mint.
I'm already in love with the lovely dashboard speed controllers.

You must have seen the faces of my two boys when they arrived from school and saw the AMS boxes.

Now I have to nag great webmaster Juhan for a AMS corner on our beloved forum.



Hi Marco, your enthusiasm is putting me to shame. Some years ago I started an English AMS site, I have been collecting since I acquired my first set (4004) from my Dad back around 1980 - he got it in the 60's and it was part of our Tri-ang train set when I was a child.

Finding AMS information in English was initially very difficult, so I made it my mission to obtain as much as I could. Over the next 25 years I built up an extensive library of catalogues, leaflets, instruction sheets etc, and of course all the lovely items shown in the catalogues whenever the opportunity presented. I've already said in another thread that it is all currently packed away Blushing (shame I know).

But over the years I acquired a lot of items and a lot of publications, many people kindly loaned me catalogues to scan for my archives, especially those in languages other than German or English. They were published in Dutch, French, Swedish, Danish and also some variations for certain markets. For example the 64/65 catalogue features an introduction written by Stirling Moss, but this is not included in the USA version, only the GB edition. So although both catalogues are in English I guess they figured most Americans would not know who Stirling Moss was, or perhaps there was some copyright or licensing issue preventing his name being used in the USA version?.

I have cover scans of catalogues for Austria, but the language is (as expected) German, so there must be some difference within to warrant the different printing code. I can't confirm because I don't have those full catalogues, only the front cover scan so I know they exist, with actual full scans yet to be obtained.

I have just uploaded my catalogue chart to the AMS section of my personal page..... https://www.marklin-users.net/cookee_nz/ams/

... but many of the links are 'dead' because I lost the site when Yahoo closed all their Geocities accounts. I still have all the files, but not yet the time to migrate them here, but from the catalogue chart you can see confirmation of some of items have been published over the years and in which languages (but not the items themselves, they are not there yet)

And, many years ago I also started a Yahoo Group for AMS, it's been quiet for a while, but there are members there who have only AMS, not Marklin and would not belong to this group. Feel free to generate some discussion there also.

There was once a most excellent AMS site (faller-ams.com - now defunct) run by a nice Dutch gent called Willem Wittenberg, then one day out of the blue he simply closed it, and deleted all his files, despite many protests and requests/offers to host it elsewhere. That one remains a mystery.

Other sites worth a look are;

Casy Place (Dutch also)
faller-ams.eu
A French site

You will not be among AMS for long before coming across Mark Moerman in Gouda, this is his Ebay store, I have known Mark for many years and actually met him when I visited Europe in 2007, very helpful indeed.

Motordrom produce the Bauer range of vehicles for AMS tracks and have some lovely models.

Be careful Marco and Ian, AMS is surprisingly addictive, I can feel the tingle coming on again and realise I should have made stronger effort to ressurect my AMS pages much sooner.

Edited by user 10 October 2012 10:16:22(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Cookee
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Offline cookee_nz  
#9 Posted : 10 October 2012 03:03:59(UTC)
cookee_nz

New Zealand   
Joined: 31/12/2010(UTC)
Posts: 3,948
Location: Paremata, Wellington
One other thing that may help, some time ago I created a "Timeline" spreadsheet which shows at a glance all the known items from the AMS range by the item/part number, and a chart showing which catalogue the item will be found in and when it was first released and discontinued (marked by 'n' for New).

I've converted it to html and uploaded to my site, but there is no link from my page so you need to find it here....

https://www.marklin-users.net/cookee_nz/ams/timeline.htm

Ultimately the chart would have each item linked to information about it, photo, etc. One day.

I hope you find it helpful to know when something was available and which catalogue to find it in and on what page. This took many hours to compile going through them all and cross-checking so there may be some errors - apologies in advance.

Cheers.
Cookee
Wellington
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Offline kweekalot  
#10 Posted : 10 October 2012 08:38:24(UTC)
kweekalot

Netherlands   
Joined: 27/06/2012(UTC)
Posts: 3,435
Location: Holland
Hi Steve,
Thank you very much for all this information !! ThumpUp
I'm already looking on your website and links.

I can see that you have spent a lot of time on it.

I hope that you unpack your stored AMS boxes and show the world ....

And we must ask Juhan for a AMS corner on the forum.

Thanks again for everything. ThumpUp

Marco
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Offline kweekalot  
#11 Posted : 10 October 2012 10:48:04(UTC)
kweekalot

Netherlands   
Joined: 27/06/2012(UTC)
Posts: 3,435
Location: Holland
I did some maintenance work on my first Porsche, under the supervision of Pip.

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Offline Ian555  
#12 Posted : 10 October 2012 11:01:19(UTC)
Ian555

Scotland   
Joined: 04/06/2009(UTC)
Posts: 20,235
Location: Scotland
Hi Marco,

Looking good. ThumpUp

Are they front or rear wheel drive and what locates them in the slot...photo of the underside Smile ..thanks.

Ian.

What transformer do they use???
What scale are they??

Smile
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Offline kweekalot  
#13 Posted : 10 October 2012 12:33:05(UTC)
kweekalot

Netherlands   
Joined: 27/06/2012(UTC)
Posts: 3,435
Location: Holland
Hi Ian,

Officially the scale is 1:87, but due to the technical conditions in the early 1960s the cars could not be made in real H0-scale (1:87) but in a scale around 1:65.

The cars weight is between 18 and 22 grams and the motor produces 1/600 HP, so weight and HP are also in scale !

The rear wheel are powered, see movie....
A small plastic pin keeps the car on track. after 40 hours the pin must be replaced.

Faller has its own transformers and a separate rectifier.
The cars can both run on AC and DC.
With AMS diode sliders 2 car' s can independence operated on 1 lane !! (Fantastic!)

I currently use a big Fleischmann transformer that my boys normally use for their electro experiments.



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Offline kweekalot  
#14 Posted : 10 October 2012 13:44:20(UTC)
kweekalot

Netherlands   
Joined: 27/06/2012(UTC)
Posts: 3,435
Location: Holland
Ian,

AMS Transformers ....... info from Faller AMS catalog 1968 page 6:

3604 (same as older 4017) = 12V DC / 0,5 Amp

3514 (same as older 4016) = 16 V AC / 0,8 Amp

3725 = 16 V AC + 12 V DC / 1,5 Amp

UserPostedImage

UserPostedImage

UserPostedImage
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Offline Ian555  
#15 Posted : 10 October 2012 14:10:05(UTC)
Ian555

Scotland   
Joined: 04/06/2009(UTC)
Posts: 20,235
Location: Scotland
Hi Marco,

Thanks very much for the informaton.ThumpUp ThumpUp

So, the buildings are Faller HO scale and not from a seperate range.

Ian.

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Offline kweekalot  
#16 Posted : 10 October 2012 15:21:41(UTC)
kweekalot

Netherlands   
Joined: 27/06/2012(UTC)
Posts: 3,435
Location: Holland
Hi Ian,

There's nothing on it, but I think the two houses are from POLA, early 1960s
If you ask me, I find the houses out of scale, not much, but a bit too small compared to all the other houses I have.

Marco
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Offline cookee_nz  
#17 Posted : 10 October 2012 19:35:33(UTC)
cookee_nz

New Zealand   
Joined: 31/12/2010(UTC)
Posts: 3,948
Location: Paremata, Wellington
Originally Posted by: Ian555 Go to Quoted Post
Hi Marco,

Thanks very much for the informaton.ThumpUp ThumpUp

So, the buildings are Faller HO scale and not from a seperate range.

Ian.



Most of the buildings used with AMS were straight from the normal Faller range, but some of them had additional base plates the same height and colour as the track, and curved to match. The Sport Hotel was a good example, also the Car Wash which was available until recently but without the motor to open and close the doors, these kits both had additional base plates to raise them to the track level, plus the range of Racing accessories (Clock Tower, Pit Stops, Viewing Stand etc), and these were later packaged for their Aurora AF/X co-operation.

I'm trying to remember if there were any kits that were exclusive to AMS?, I don't think so.

It is believed that pursuit of the AMS line was a personal passion of one of the Faller Brothers in particular (Herman possibly), and that it is reported to have nearly bankrupted the company because the development and production costs were so high. As an aside, you see a similar theme of late with all the Circus range which I think was introduced by the daughter of one of the founders (of course that may also be complete bulltish so don't quote me). Confused

Back in the day (as now), AMS was not cheap. I have a good range of price lists and a comparison is not hard. I'll see if I can find some items to compare between AMS / Marklin as an indication in the next day or three. It was by and large a quality item then, and still is with many examples surviving due to being relatively robust and highly collectible.
Cookee
Wellington
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Offline cookee_nz  
#18 Posted : 10 October 2012 19:39:44(UTC)
cookee_nz

New Zealand   
Joined: 31/12/2010(UTC)
Posts: 3,948
Location: Paremata, Wellington
Originally Posted by: kweekalot Go to Quoted Post
Hi Ian,

Officially the scale is 1:87, but due to the technical conditions in the early 1960s the cars could not be made in real H0-scale (1:87) but in a scale around 1:65.

The cars weight is between 18 and 22 grams and the motor produces 1/600 HP, so weight and HP are also in scale !

The rear wheel are powered, see movie....
A small plastic pin keeps the car on track. after 40 hours the pin must be replaced.

Faller has its own transformers and a separate rectifier.
The cars can both run on AC and DC.
With AMS diode sliders 2 car' s can independence operated on 1 lane !! (Fantastic!)

I currently use a big Fleischmann transformer that my boys normally use for their electro experiments.

UserPostedImage


Same info expanded, from the booklet, AMS POST 1 (GB)...

As you can see, the designers did not shy away from their research. There will be thousands of cars that have done way more hours of running than the recommended servicing schedule and still going strong. The high-mortality items are

1: Rubber Tyres
2: Pickups (and the tiny springs)
3: Motor Brushes (and the tiny springs)
4: Guide Pin

Because of all the design changes, some parts are very unique, ie Marco shows a chassis style which has a small PCB underneath. This was a short-lived style available only around 65/66. The PSB boards are near impossible to find and often break where the pickup attaches, and even the pickups themselves are totally unique to this PCB, not used in any other chassis.
cookee_nz attached the following image(s):
881p23-service.jpg
881p23-technical data.jpg
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Offline cookee_nz  
#19 Posted : 10 October 2012 20:14:03(UTC)
cookee_nz

New Zealand   
Joined: 31/12/2010(UTC)
Posts: 3,948
Location: Paremata, Wellington
Originally Posted by: kweekalot Go to Quoted Post
Hi Steve,
Thank you very much for all this information !! ThumpUp
I'm already looking on your website and links.

I can see that you have spent a lot of time on it.

I hope that you unpack your stored AMS boxes and show the world ....

And we must ask Juhan for a AMS corner on the forum.

Thanks again for everything. ThumpUp

Marco


Well Marco, you asked for it. Before we left for Melbourne, I photographed everything in storage for Insurance. The image below is just the storage containers for Faller, and of those, 8 of them are only for AMS products, plus a few items that are not in the containers (start-sets are too big).

When we returned it was fantastic bringing them all out again. As for opening them up and photographing the contents, I know if I did that I would never get them packed away again quite as neatly (why is that?), plus I would get distracted by 'playing'.

I do have some additional photo's of the inside of each container but it only shows a top layer view (I'll add them another time), but even this will give you a good idea of what I have been able to acquire over the years, and almost all of it from right here in NZ and a few items from Australia, and we are about as far from Gütenbach as you can get!!

I also know of about a half-dozen other AMS enthusiasts in NZ with respectable collections.
cookee_nz attached the following image(s):
Hobby Containers-200210-3 (labelled)-snip.jpg
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Offline kweekalot  
#20 Posted : 10 October 2012 21:04:09(UTC)
kweekalot

Netherlands   
Joined: 27/06/2012(UTC)
Posts: 3,435
Location: Holland
Hi Steve,
Thanks a lot, I appreciate it very much that you show me this. Love Love Love
I'm very impressed.... I have only 4 AMS cars (today arrived No 4).
I hope you can give us in the coming months and years some more AMS advice !!

But there is one thing I don't quit understand......why is your AMS packed in boxes and not in use ?
No time for it ??

Marco


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Offline kweekalot  
#21 Posted : 11 October 2012 19:07:16(UTC)
kweekalot

Netherlands   
Joined: 27/06/2012(UTC)
Posts: 3,435
Location: Holland
I have purchased some Faller AMS pillars/track supports (Catalog No. 4781) for the AMS layout that I'm going to build next months.


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Offline Ian555  
#22 Posted : 11 October 2012 19:43:46(UTC)
Ian555

Scotland   
Joined: 04/06/2009(UTC)
Posts: 20,235
Location: Scotland
Hi Marco,

So, you're latest purchase will be playing a supporting role then. Wink

Ian.


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Offline steventrain  
#23 Posted : 11 October 2012 20:56:37(UTC)
steventrain

United Kingdom   
Joined: 21/10/2004(UTC)
Posts: 31,601
Location: United Kingdom
Excellent, Marco.
Large Marklinist 3- Rails Layout with CS2/MS2/Boosters/C-track/favorites Electric class E03/BR103, E18/E118, E94, Crocodiles/Steam BR01, BR03, BR05, BR23, BR44, BR50, Big Boy.
Offline Yumgui  
#24 Posted : 11 October 2012 22:14:28(UTC)
Yumgui

United States   
Joined: 20/03/2011(UTC)
Posts: 1,660
Location: Paris, France
Nice Faller AMS, thanks for the great info alle ^^, dint know this stuff even existed !

Prolly offtopic ... but here's another car system I've been watching from 1930; Louis Roussy (LR) who also made trains.

If you're patient you can view videos 1 to 8 on YT ... :

Video 1 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyPbqf1s_JU

Video 8 : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AkSgf3xNkDc

Yum ThumpUp

PS: Video 8 explains (in french) how it works ... pretty cool for the time !

Edited by user 12 October 2012 08:01:25(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

If your M track is rusted ... DON'T throw it out !
Working on: https://studiogang.com/projects/all
My heavy train station renovation: https://youtu.be/QQlyNiq416A
Inspired by: http://www.nakedmarklin.com/... Am not alone in this universe, phew.
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Offline Mark5  
#25 Posted : 11 October 2012 23:00:10(UTC)
Mark5

Canada   
Joined: 29/01/2012(UTC)
Posts: 1,420
Location: Montreal, Canada
Originally Posted by: kweekalot Go to Quoted Post
I did some maintenance work on my first Porsche, under the supervision of Pip.

UserPostedImage






Seeing this made my heart jump! Love So simple and beautiful to tinker with, clean and repair.
I realize now that some of the cars on our Aurora set must have been Faller cars too, since they had the same motor and an identical VW Beatle... could that be true or is my memory failing me?

- Mark

DB DR FS NS SNCF c. 1950-65, fan of station architecture esp. from 1920-70.
In single point perspective, where do track lines meet?
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Offline cookee_nz  
#26 Posted : 12 October 2012 10:28:46(UTC)
cookee_nz

New Zealand   
Joined: 31/12/2010(UTC)
Posts: 3,948
Location: Paremata, Wellington
Originally Posted by: Ian555 Go to Quoted Post
Hi Marco,

So, you're latest purchase will be playing a supporting role then. Wink

Ian.



Good to see our members are such upstanding pillars of society BigGrin
Cookee
Wellington
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Offline cookee_nz  
#27 Posted : 12 October 2012 10:40:20(UTC)
cookee_nz

New Zealand   
Joined: 31/12/2010(UTC)
Posts: 3,948
Location: Paremata, Wellington
Originally Posted by: MM-MarkMontreal Go to Quoted Post
Originally Posted by: kweekalot Go to Quoted Post
I did some maintenance work on my first Porsche, under the supervision of Pip.



Seeing this made my heart jump! Love So simple and beautiful to tinker with, clean and repair.
I realize now that some of the cars on our Aurora set must have been Faller cars too, since they had the same motor and an identical VW Beatle... could that be true or is my memory failing me?

- Mark



Hi Mark,

Faller and Aurora co-operated from the late 70's through agreement which saw Faller using Aurora cars in their sets but with Faller track. It would have enabled Faller to quit stocks of track without the cost of producing vehicles. (It was only for their 'Racing' line, they had stopped selling their 'Traffic' line by then with the last new item of that nature being the Container Terminal).

But I've never seen any US Aurora sets with Faller track with the exception of the Aurora Postage Stamp series which was the Faller N-Bus (N gauge), similar to AMS but obviously smaller. Almost no interchangeable parts between the HO & N ranges with the exception of the Track joiners, the Wheels and the Controller. Everything else for the N-Bus was unique. It was not available for long and are quite sought-after. Do a search on Ebay for "aurora postage stamp bus" and check Completed listings, you'll see what I mean.
Cookee
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Offline kweekalot  
#28 Posted : 13 October 2012 09:43:19(UTC)
kweekalot

Netherlands   
Joined: 27/06/2012(UTC)
Posts: 3,435
Location: Holland
Hi Yum,
Thanks for sharing the Louis Roussy slotcar movies !! ThumpUp
That system is great ! I had never heard of before.
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Offline Soest  
#29 Posted : 16 October 2012 05:15:12(UTC)
Soest


Joined: 05/09/2009(UTC)
Posts: 201
Location: Ottawa, Ontario
Hi Kweekalot,

This is great that we have a Faller AMS corner. This summer I purchased a full analogue layout from the 60's which also included a whole trunk of Faller AMS, which I had never seen although I spent part of the early 60's in Germany. Among this is the starter set 4000, 4041 (which appears to be an intersection with lights) and 4733, which is a level crossing that can be intergrated with HO. There are also controllers, race cars and chassis, lots of roadway (including a section of the Nurburgring), a rectifier and a myriad of connection parts. There are no transformers but I have a couple of Marklin big blue trafos which I hope I can use. I would like to build an analogue layout which incorporates AMS so I will be following the AMS folder closely. Thanks for taking this initiative. The timing could not be better for my purposes.

Regards,

Mike
Why do grown men play with trains?
Their wives insist they are insane
But their dreams they won't let down the drain
'Cause there ain't no thing so hard to lose as those disappearing railway blues.
Offline kweekalot  
#30 Posted : 16 October 2012 08:16:13(UTC)
kweekalot

Netherlands   
Joined: 27/06/2012(UTC)
Posts: 3,435
Location: Holland
Hi Mike,

Thanks for liking the Faller Corner.
The car’s can run on 12V DC or 16V AC, and I also use temporarily the big blue 280A transformer.
I'm looking forward to your (future) AMS photos !

Marco
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Offline cookee_nz  
#31 Posted : 16 October 2012 11:38:41(UTC)
cookee_nz

New Zealand   
Joined: 31/12/2010(UTC)
Posts: 3,948
Location: Paremata, Wellington
Originally Posted by: Soest Go to Quoted Post
Hi Kweekalot,

This is great that we have a Faller AMS corner. This summer I purchased a full analogue layout from the 60's which also included a whole trunk of Faller AMS, which I had never seen although I spent part of the early 60's in Germany. Among this is the starter set 4000, 4041 (which appears to be an intersection with lights) and 4733, which is a level crossing that can be intergrated with HO. There are also controllers, race cars and chassis, lots of roadway (including a section of the Nurburgring), a rectifier and a myriad of connection parts. There are no transformers but I have a couple of Marklin big blue trafos which I hope I can use. I would like to build an analogue layout which incorporates AMS so I will be following the AMS folder closely. Thanks for taking this initiative. The timing could not be better for my purposes.

Regards,

Mike


Hi Mike,

Sounds like a great find you have there. A word of caution, be VERY careful if using the Marklin trafo's for power. They are great and will give you plenty of grunt, sometimes too much!!

I had an experience with a bad connection between two sections of AMS track, the join heated VERY quickly and melted the plastic around the joiner. The bad connection by itself was not so much the issue, it was when a short-circuit happened that the bad connection became the weak point and with all that current available away she went. Sad Sad

The electrical system of AMS was redesigned several times, originally the rectifier was inside the controller 4030 (steering wheel type and my personal favourite), but this controller style was mainly for the 'Traffic' operation to allow two cars in one lane, control of Turnouts etc.

Then they separated the Rectifier out into a smaller unit (three versions, 4019, 4035 & 3808) which could be used with either the smaller steering-wheel type controller 4031 (minus buttons and polarity switch), or the plunger-type controller (4033) for "Racing" operation. Some of the plunger controllers have a small lock on the side to hold the plunger in one position/speed.

Then on top of that, they had multiple designs of the Auto chassis. ALL Faller cars have DC motors and can be quickly tested with a 9v battery - just touch the pickups to the battery terminals.

If it does not run, or runs backwards, reverse the polarity. Some of the Faller chassis however also have a rectifier built in - a small grey selenium plate, basically a half-wave rectifier and this is what allows the 2-cars in one lane operation, with each having independent control. You need the selenium plate in the controller circuit and the auto, and they have to be correctly polarised otherwise cars go backwards, or not at all, or two respond to the same controller.

But not all chassis have the selenium plate and if the plate is missing, and you try to run it off AC which is Faller's default power source, the car will not run at all, it just sits and buzzes or hums. This type will only work off DC.

There is a performance trade-off from this half-wave principle where there is a small voltage drop from having a diode in the chassis, and having one in the controller/rectifier and some cars just don't run well.

I've attached two pages from the 882 Technical Manual which explain the principle very well and might help.

if you are becoming confused you are not alone. Given that this system was to some extent also a child's toy, the electrical complexity was overwhelming for many and led Faller to revise several times in an effort to simplify it. They largely achieved this in their final sets which were purely for racing and mostly had Aurora AF/X cars but the production from 1963 through to the mid 70's had a bewildering array of options and quite often the items from one era would not always work well with those from another unless you understood it.

cookee_nz attached the following image(s):
882p06.jpg
882p07.jpg
Cookee
Wellington
NZ image
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Offline Bigdaddynz  
#32 Posted : 16 October 2012 12:00:05(UTC)
Bigdaddynz

New Zealand   
Joined: 17/09/2006(UTC)
Posts: 18,661
Location: New Zealand
Originally Posted by: kweekalot Go to Quoted Post
......why is your AMS packed in boxes and not in use ?


Cookee has just moved back to NZ after spending 2 years in Australia. So, I guess they are either still packed from the move, or they were in storage here in NZ while he was away.
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Offline cookee_nz  
#33 Posted : 16 October 2012 19:51:45(UTC)
cookee_nz

New Zealand   
Joined: 31/12/2010(UTC)
Posts: 3,948
Location: Paremata, Wellington
Originally Posted by: Bigdaddynz Go to Quoted Post
Originally Posted by: kweekalot Go to Quoted Post
......why is your AMS packed in boxes and not in use ?


Cookee has just moved back to NZ after spending 2 years in Australia. So, I guess they are either still packed from the move, or they were in storage here in NZ while he was away.


Weeeeeeeeeeell.......

I feel another blush coming on. Thanks for the defence Dave but truth is they were packed before we went to Oz for some time as well.

My biggest problem is simply nowhere to set any up right now, not unless I get a bigger man-cave. ThumpUp ThumpUp

One day.

But I always intended a small portable display to take to the exhibitions. That thought remains live and active.

Now that Jan has some, we could always do a combined project. Is he on this forum BD do you know? (and if not, why not?)
Cookee
Wellington
NZ image
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Offline Soest  
#34 Posted : 18 October 2012 05:43:24(UTC)
Soest


Joined: 05/09/2009(UTC)
Posts: 201
Location: Ottawa, Ontario
Thanks very much for the information, Cookee. It does sound a bit daunting but I will try to work my way through it and hopefully learn something.

Regards,

Mike
Why do grown men play with trains?
Their wives insist they are insane
But their dreams they won't let down the drain
'Cause there ain't no thing so hard to lose as those disappearing railway blues.
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