American Z Line AZL Mikado first impressions & DCC'd

Carlsbad92009 Jul 21, 2013

  1. husafreak

    husafreak TrainBoard Member

    577
    397
    15
    Thanks for that advice about long term wear, because I have been running mine a lot!
     
  2. z.scale.hobo

    z.scale.hobo TrainBoard Member

    228
    210
    15
    So........run your Mikado on radius that is over 12 inches, 24 inch diameter or larger.

    12 inch radius? That's an R300mm ... largest radius sectional track is Rokuhan's R015 at 270mm. Is this a mis-type, Don? I test Mikados on R220mm curves and they seem to work ok. I have troubles on the R195s, though.
     
  3. husafreak

    husafreak TrainBoard Member

    577
    397
    15
    Ditto, my AZL Mikado has trouble on 195, runs good on 220 but slight wobbles around corners. That’s pulling 20 cars. But I have to back it through turnouts, it derails going forward. R245 is smooth as silk. Don’t have anything larger.
     
    Last edited: Dec 24, 2019
  4. EMD F7A

    EMD F7A TrainBoard Member

    1,250
    148
    26
    Can't remember if I posted this before. Old video of mine :)

     
    Kurt Moose, spyder62 and rray like this.
  5. rray

    rray Staff Member

    8,277
    9,277
    133
    Who's Mike is that? I never run that fast, for fear of catastrophic failure. I was watching anxiously, to see if gears would fly out or something!
     
    Kurt Moose, EMD F7A and Kez like this.
  6. husafreak

    husafreak TrainBoard Member

    577
    397
    15
    So, are the weights you make available for purchase? I just received a tin of tungsten putty, so I could/should do it myself, but if you have made something special I’d like one...
     
    Kez likes this.
  7. EMD F7A

    EMD F7A TrainBoard Member

    1,250
    148
    26
    That was mine! She was stuttering a bit after her DCC install, so I turned up the speed a little. Then a string of freight behind me started to catch up and I decided to see what the little bumblebee was capable of instead of getting rear ended! Ran her for two laps like this! Layout was big that year too...

    But yes, they should be run slower than that!
     
  8. rray

    rray Staff Member

    8,277
    9,277
    133
    And the side rod pins didn't come out? Impressive, but scary for such a tiny jewel like that. :D
     
    EMD F7A likes this.
  9. ddechamp71

    ddechamp71 TrainBoard Member

    2,153
    653
    46
    I've no curve tighter than 14" / 35 cm radius on my layout but grades are 3%, and my own AZL Mike isn't at ease on these. It growls hard and its tractive effort is reduced towards close to nothing.. But's it's true, in the 1:1 world steamers other than geared locos don't give much on such grades..

    Dom
     
    EMD F7A likes this.

Share This Page