I recently received the new 88203 V200 loco equipped with the new coreless motor and I have to say I'm very happy with it. I did have a small problem with the mecahnism jamming from time-to-time, but I was able to trace that to a small bit of flash getting into the gears of one of the bogies and once removed everything has been good. (Coincidentally, I was running a pair of recently acquired 80815 wagons this afternoon and noticed thatthey weren't running freely at all. I was able to track that down to flash in the bogie mouldings (the same side on all four bogies) and now that's removed they run as freely as everything else. This does all seem to call into question Marklin's quality control, though, which, until now I have expected to be second to none.)

Back to 88203, I am impressed with the new motor. It runs much more quietly than the 5 pole motor and, I feel much more smoothly. Slow speed running isn't enormously better than the previous generation, but is better, I reckon. When I had the loco apart, I noticed the motor is fitted with a flywheel, which may account, in part at least, for the improved running.

The only slight disappointment is that the cab windows are blacked out, in contrast to the Marklin's photos, but I have to say I am very happy with my purchase. I'm now looking forward to seeing what the coreless motor does for the running of 88742, when it is finally released. It's predecessor (88740) with the 5-pole motor is an already very smooth runner.

Edited by user 26 September 2019 22:33:38(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

That is disappointing and not at all what I would have expected (though my experience is telling me otherwise, of course). Here in the UK, German quality is still a stereotype we subscribe to.

Marklin increasingly seem to be marketing their products as collectibles. Maybe I'm the only person who ever takes them out of their boxes!

Cheers


Chris

I've been testing my new 88195 loco and have compared it with a BLS Re 465. I noticed that the new motored loco is much slower than the 2-pole motored 465. From this I deduce that new and old locos cannot double-head a train. Can others confirm?

I wouldn't consider combining an older 5 pole or 3 pole loco with a new bell shaped armature loco. The power requirements are radically different. But if it works and the locos don't get hot and burn out prematurely then that's the owners business.

Also I am playing with DCC for my AZL modern loco’s. The DCC guys try to speed match their loco’s but in the case of an imperfect match they recommend putting the faster loco in front so it pulls rather than pushes. These loco’s have traction tires.