Thanks John and Renato.

John , I guess you are talking about this one
http://www.der-moba.de/i..._Das_Märklin-System

and as Herr BDNZ pointed out in previous post it is 5120 (286mm)
Well, it seems I need to try to think of way to make this work with shorter radius like less than 10cm. I am just speculating. I have no clue what it means in terms of efforts and feasibility. May be experienced ones can shade some light.:)

End result I want to have is like this.
_________
(_________) Looking circuit with 20cm between two parallel tracks.

The smallest standard radius for gauge Z (1:220) is 15 cm, but I heard of people that used flextrack to get smaller radii. I don't know if 10 cm is possible in this gauge.

With respect to gauge H0 (1:87): couplers are not made for such small radii.
A single, very short 2-axled loco might be able to make it. I'm afraid that no unmodified train will be able to handle this radius.

A trick used in gauge 1:1 might help: in very small curves the outer rail is modified to have the wheels run on the flanges. Larger wheel diameter on the outside helps to drive around the curve.

My tip: Try to get at least 80 cm so you can use standard curves (36 cm radius). All Märklin vehicles should be able to handle this.

With AC, you change direction by turning the throttle to the left beyond the 0 position (for about a second).

AC locos can go in both directions.

Welcome to the forum,

I like the carpet. is it silk ?

John

Greetings from Sweden after long silence.

After taking seriously all the valuable advice I got from you all, I decided to suspend all the shopping spree activities and spent some time reading catalogues and tried to get as much knowledge as possible. (No quiz time please :) ) I did not study for any Märklin Exams :)

Some decision points:
I will buy digital starter set and have been looking around on internet for the same.
Came across some excellent thread here with suggestions and looked into these ones:
1) 29483 (SBB Cargo), class 421 'Swiss Freight Train' Starter Set.(Mid april to Aug 2011)

2´) 29094 DB E94 Electric & BR 01.10 Steam Locomotive Starter Set.
Not available for me in Sweden yet (Dec2011).

3) 29539 'Freight Train' Digital Starter Set w/(DB) Cl 81 Steam Available in local hobby shop(3200SEK) Thinking of buying it but wondering if I shall wait for 29094 and in meantime try to save some cash and go big.
http://www.eurorailhobbi...mp;ca=14&stock=29539

4) I also happend to come across this one and somehow did not find much of reviews or information about this one. It was 2003 release and looks interesting. But have some questions around it.
http://rutenhjelms.ehand...tarter_set_with_2_trains

29850 Seems to be released in 2003 (I am not sure where I read that anymore). So here are questions:
1) Is the MS that comes with this one will be having issues as compared to MS in latest releases like
29539 above? The picture of set shows similar looking MS but I am no expert in. What I do not want to end up is some outdated stuff which no one uses.

I could not even find much information about this set and even the marklin site does not list this set. Is it for real or am I dreaming?

2) So what are your views on which one shall I buy.

29539: Is ok but It does not seem to have some features(sounds for new kids on block for starters) as compared to 29850. 29094 is long wait I guess and a bit pricy taking into account my grand knowledge about this hobby. :)

What I want to do is this:
Get a digital Starter set and try to build this one from the other thread. This sounds like challenging thing to do.
https://www.marklin-user...t18853_small-layout.aspx

There are zillion questions around this one but shall take it a bit later. Already too saturated with reading so much on internet.

Before I end happy easter holidays to all.

Hi Sachin
Totally agree with Dave - I want to stress what he says about taking it slowly; which is what Ive done/am doing, and it really is the way to get started.
The 29539 is an excellent start set; MS2, and the points have decoders fitted; ;lovely little tank engine and 5 wagons, with a goodly amount of C track.
Get it, you will not be disappointed; and once you have it, the rest will follow.....!!
Joe

Hi Sachin,
You can go to Marklin.com, click on Product data bank search and see the description for each set your self.
Obviously the 29094 with two trains would be a great set if you decide to spend US$1300. Please note, from the description, it looks like the electric loco only has a warning sound but the steam loco has full operating sound. So basically this means that the electric loco has no sound except for maybe a horn sound whereas the steam loco has the full chuffing sounds etc. The set also comes with 4 turnouts with built in decoders and solenoids and these turnouts can be controlled with the MS2 conntroller
This is the set I would buy.

The 29850 you mentioned comes with the MS1 which is an old generation controller. Although it can control trains reasonably well, it cannot control turnouts (the turnouts in this set does not seem to have the solenoid or the decoder to automatically switch them). One thing to watch out for is that a large number of these controllers had problems. I had a problematic one.

Flex track as the name suggests is just that. It means you can bend it and make different radius curves. But if you go with M* C track (the one with the stiff plastic road bed attached) flex is not an option. I am not sure if M* has flex K track. In any case, most M* start sets come with C track which is excellent quality track.

One thing to remember when you start expanding on your start set is that C track comes in various radiuses and lengths. You need to plan your extensions carefully as C track is rigid and unless you have the correct radiuses/lengths, you cannot make 'ends meet'

The article number of the K-Flex track is: 2205. This is the best track of them all in the 22xx-series... But you can't (or rather shouldn't try) create a curved track with a radius smaller than the available curved tracks (2210). It'll be too tight to drive through for most vechicles. It's more for creating large radius smooth curves. There are rail-joiners available for connecting cut flex-tracks to existing track(s), don't have the article number available right now though.

Hi all,




Yes,several ways to do this,...I could not find them,....but Krause make brass clamps,to make alignment and cutting flex much easier.

Dr Dirt

Sachin,


Welcome to this forum, my name is John.

You must know something about the hobby by joining this wonderful forum.

I hope your stay will make you a better person, it helped me, by buying more model train stuff.

IF you buy a C track starter set you will get an idea about Marklin and how it works. Flex track will not save you any space as anything smaller than the radius 1 C track will not be of any use. K track starter is also fine if you wish to ballast by hand.
I presume you have the latest Marklin catalogue from which you can see the radius of the various track parts. There are dozens of track plans in Marklin books which will ensure you have no problem in joining up track.

dave

Sachin

If you look for information about M track look here

http://wiki.3rail.nl/dok...p?id=rails:m-rails&s[]=catalogus

Alas, it is in Dutch but the drawings say it all. Otherwise search on the Web, all Märklin catalogues are scanned

Regards

Jan

Hi Fishtankfishy ,
Marklin Digital is one of the greatest feat of technology. It is so easy to use. Even I (The inexperienced Digital user last year) when I got my first upgrade from Analog to Digital , I am able to master the MS2 controls in just a few hours. Few months later, I quickly upgraded to the sophisticated CS2(The flagship of all controllers) and it 's easy to use too even though the manual is trying to complicate it.
The CS2

If you want to get complicated by CS2.. You can with these complicating manual
http://www.rjftrains.com/sales/cs2/60214_en.pdf


Cheers
Chan

Hi Sachin,

That's a great set!

I love the train it brings, and it's also a great way to get the new MS2.

I've been considering replacing my old 6021 controller, and this looks like a good way of doing it. Let us know how it all works together.

Sorry, can't help you on that. I believe the purpose of the loco card is to enter the details of the loco onto the CS2 quickly, without having to search for it in the database, but this is not something I have experience with.

Yea, If you can't find your card then don't stress, just enter the train through the database. If you really want a card, then you can buy them and program them yourself...

Hi Guys,
Finally got some time to try to setup my new 29483.
Got blocked.

I did not find the Loco card as mentioned in set.

So tried to set the things up and put the loco on the track in the hope of registering itself as mentioned in the manual.

Nothing happens.
This is what I did.

Did connections to track, then MS2 and 60113 control box as mentioned.
Power on.
Put the Loco on the track(It should have detected the Loco and registered it with Blinking mfx showing on the screen as mentioned. Nothing of this sort happens. The loco lights seem to work somehow so power seems to go to loco. Still nothing happens.

Mobile station is up and running.
Tried to find the loco using Find Loco function. Nope. does not work.

Could not find the loco (Re 421 374-0) which seems to be Name Set at the factory as per the manual. Did not find any such. May be I need to have the Loco card itself.

Sachin in confused state from Sweden.

Hi, Sachin!

You don't need a loco card for an mfx loco - mfx locos should register automatically with the controller.
And AFAIK mfx locos always come without loco cards.
mfx locos cannot be registered from the database or by address, so you can only hope that the loco will register automatically.

What you can do: try a different loco to see if the controller works. Try a different controller to see if the loco works.
It might help to try the loco with analogue voltage (but don't reverse direction when using old blue transformers), then try the MS2 again.

"Find loco" often fails to find locos with LED lights. Wouldn't work for mfx locos anyway.

Thanks Tom.
This is my start in Digital world so I do have only this.
Other locos I have are good ol M track Locos.

>>What you can do: try a different loco to see if the controller works.
Can I use my old Markin locos on this setup??

>>Try a different controller to see if the loco works.
This is my start in Digital world so I do have only one controller.

It might help to try the loco with analogue voltage (but don't reverse direction when using old blue transformers), then try the MS2 again.
Can I just disconnect all new MS2, Controller and 24VDC Power supply and connect old Blue Transformer and run this loco on it?? Won't it fry electronics??

Sorry for asking dumb and strange questions. I am really newbie.

Sorry that I dont have an MS2 so I dont know how much they can do with resetting. Best thing is to find somebody with another loco that you can try or anybody with a CS2 and see if it registers on that.
Start sets a pretty good and providing you use only the parts from the start set it should be OK.
It is just a matter of trial and error but without another loco or controller I realise this will be difficult.
Sorry cant be of more help.

dave

As said above there appears to be a decoder reset with the MS2 so try that. When doing so only have the one loco on the track (sorry just remembered you only have one anyway) A decoder reset can sort lots of problems.
If you are happy about removing the loco body you can have a look to see if there are any obvious loose wires.
If you bought from a reputable dealer then you can send the loco back to them explaining the problem. I am presuming that the MS2 is OK.
Do try first to find somebody near you and even if you post the loco to them they may be able to help by trying to register on a CS2 etc.

dave