Thinking of buying Roco 79404 Swiss RE 430. Not had a Roco loco previously. Are they OK with C track and run well. Maybe somebody has this or similar model.
Thanks for any info

David

I recently acquired a Re 430, but it took a complicated road.
I recently responded to a post in another forum by a member who was looking for a 63847.2 Re 4/4III 11350. I happened to have a spare one, as I had originally commissioned a conversion of a 69845 into the 11350 at a well known Swiss small production firm. When Roco announced the set, we agreed that they would simply send me one of those rather than working on the locomotive I had sent in. At the same time, I had recently returned the 69736 Re 6/6 as I was not satisfied with the light shining through the shell and I decided to try to obtain the Re 6/6 from the set after I was informed that there was no light issue with that model. I ended up finding a good price for the set and that was how I ended up with two Re 4/4III 11350.

Back to recent events, I agreed to send that person a DC frame with the shell of the 11350 and in return, agreed that a 71404 would be sent to me.
I received the model about two weeks ago. The first thing I noticed is that the model, unlike all of the previous Re 4/4 models, is labelled "Made in Vietnam' and not "Made in Romania" or "Made in the EU".

I set the shell of the 11364 on the chassis of a spare 79255 AC Re 4/4II (Romania one) that I had and it runs and looks very nice. The only thing that remains to do is to swap the bogie parts so that they have the correct appearance as per prototype.

The DC version of the Re 430 was affected by some issue which prompted a delay in delivery. The AC version was not affected by the delay.
There appears to be some kind of modification to the edges of the model (frame) around the LED panels for the headlights, suggesting either a fit or light issue.

I cannot for certain state that this was related to the issue/delay. I can say that my model (shell) fits perfectly on the chassis for the older model.

That said, with the exception of the Porrentruy and Cham models, I have all of the Roco Re 4/4II/III and am very happy with the models.

Here is a video of my 79255 pulling a Maerklin SBB-FS consist:
https://www.marklin-user...rce.ashx?a=58801&b=1

Regards

Mike C

I have noted on recent locomotives that there seem to be a greater number of contact issues. I have not investigated the models in depth.
One thing that I did note is that there is a tendency to use wheel contacts whereas older models were more likely to have axle contacts and that the wheel contacts tend to be smaller and have a reduced contact profile compared to older models.
The fact that you suggest that your 79404 has insulated wheels suggest that the wheelsets are DC (not AC) as AC wheelsets would normally be a single piece and would bridge the two rails.
I would check the model to see how the return contacts are designed/installed. On the DC model, each bogie has a contact on one side, one for the left rail and one for the right rail. On older AC models, one bogie would have the AC slider and the other bogie would have the return contacts (wheels). To save money, a company might decide to keep the DC wheel contacts but to add the slider, which would allow them to use the same parts for the wheels and contacts for all versions. The 2 return contact leads would then be merged at or on the PC board.

The DC model has 4 powered axles, where, AFAIR the AC model has 3 powered axles. One option would be to ensure that the 4th axle (not powered) is a non-insulated axle, which would bridge the two rails together for purpose of contact tracks, etc.

My preoccupation here would more be that lateral movement of a locomotive bogie in such a setup could cause the locomotive to have a weak contact or to stall if said motion reduces the contact between the wheel used for return contact and the rail, as the opposite wheel would not serve to maintain contact in such an instance.

I will be doing some more investigation and will be following this topic with interest.

I have seen similar issues with a few Roco models (Re 4/4II, Re 6/6, BLS Re 4/4 and BR 193/Re 475) as well as with at least one recent Maerklin model.
I also want to figure out whether this issue is more prevalent when operating using DC power (MS2/CS) rather than classic Marklin Motorola or Analog AC.

Regards

Mike C

Dave, I haven't had any problem with Roco locos, as most of mine are DC and some AC, in either case: no problems

John

I decided not to go for the Roco model and looking at the above maybe the right choice. I have found that Marklin. and Piko run fine but one problem with a Brawa. Perhaps those manufacturing AC versions of their models should take more care if they wish to sell to us three rail folk. We should not have to modify a model to get it to run properly.
Hope Thomas gets the Roco running as it should.

Dear Don,

Snap! Same problem here. I soldered/bridged the 3L connector on the PCB.
Now the wheels from both sides are electrically connected and the contact tracks are fine.

And I agree, it is a nice model.

Thank you,
Thomas