Roco

[jcami]

Hi All,

I have a decently sized Roco collection and I am particularly pleased with my S3/6 Era 1 Steamer which has digital decoder with sound. The only thing is that I have problems when trying to make it go up my helix which has a 5% gradient. I have changed the tyres but to no avail. Any ideas - apart from changing the helix?

Joe.

 

[Russ Bellinis]

I don't know the layout of your helix, but if you can't change the helix's gradient, can you put a spur at the top allowing you to run helper service up the helix and then drop the helper at the top? The spur would only have to be long enough to hold a single locomotive out of the way before going back down the helix to help the next train up.

 

[Chessie6459]

I agree with Russ Bellinis. I would also add helper service to the trains going up the helix. I wouldn't worry about ripping apart the helix at all and changing it.

 

[Topo]

If I'm not wrong, the S3/6 have the motor & traction wheels in the tender. Maybe adding weight to the tender can help this nice loco to climb your helix.

However, it couldn't be an easy task because the tender, small as they are, may be full with shoehorned stuff (the motor & gears, the decoder, the speaker...).

I would add weight little by little in top of the tender (fixing it in place with cello tape only) to determine how much you need to fix your issue. Then, just open the tender and look what you can do to fit inside the required weight.

 

[jcami]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for your response.

I tried to put a small bag of lead-shot over the tender - and it worked! - Absolutely no slippage - But there is no way I could hide this inside. There is no space.

Since my helix is a double one, with trains going up and down it, I am able to send a heavy loco to meet the tail-end of the slipping one to gently help sort out the problem.

I have described my layout on another forum and I have also included some pictures.
Your comments are very welcome!

http://www.marklin-users.com/applications/forum3/topic.asp?ARCHIVE=true&TOPIC_ID=1036&SearchTerms=jcami's

Joe.