new guy

[Jimbo]

new here,, semi retired, wanted something to do this long winter!! So I decided  to get back into trains, Haven't done any of this since I was a kid, I couldn't find which way I wanted to go with n scale, ,Fell in love with the Japanese trains,  I have a EF30 ED 79 ED 61 EH 500 EF 65, a EMU an Twilight Express,, All on a 4 by 8 table which is a work in progress Ha!! Thanks for letting me!!

[Kiha66]

Welcome Jim!  Sounds like you're off to a great start, be sure to share some pics of your setup.

[chadbag]

Welcome!

 

[Sheffie]

I've just been here six weeks or so. It's a good place.

Welcome :)

 

[mvaron]

Lots of great people and resources, welcome! 🚂

[JR 500系]

Welcome Jim! Glad you found us! Feel free to browse around and ask any questions, we have many friendly and knowledagable people around!  🙂

 

By the way, you are missing an EF81 for that Twilight Express ~  😛

[serotta1972]

Welcome to the forum, Jim. Looking forward to seeing your 4x8 railroad, that's a good amount of real estate for N Scale.

[cteno4]

Welcome jimbo, glad you found us. I’m sure we can egg along your new passion!

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Jimbo]

Thanks everyone

[DanielMackay]

Welcome, sir. Nice set of rolling stock! May this forum serve you well.

 

And where is home?

 

Daniel

[Jimbo]

frozen Vermont

[DanielMackay]

On 3/4/2019 at 7:31 PM, Jimbo said:

frozen Vermont

 

Albany, NY area for me.

[Jimbo]

Well now a little about myself, I suffer  PTSD, with a TBI, I write strange sometimes, Its ok to jump me when I write My "coded" messages I'm used to that, I have very thick skin, I was wondering about LED lights seeing how one of the regular  bulbs melted through the floor of one of the buildings, It got taken wrong, The wires are so small! my hands don't work like they used to, but I make the best of things an keep going, I bought a MircoAce engine {I liked it} what a mistake what  junk, {it was new} lesion learned,, I tried to post some pics but forgot how to,, I got back into trains to keep from going crazy over the winter months, I guess I should have stuck to Harleys its what I know best, was well respected in a few forums an helped out in a couple of tech forums also, Don't judge me, doesn't sit well with me , I'm no crazy ass fool!!   Its all been a learning curve for me, most of which I've taught myself through trail an error Thank God they weren't expensive mistakes,    So if an I say if, Im not welcomed in here just say so, Ill leave no big deal no loss    Thanks

[gavino200]

36 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Well now a little about myself, I suffer  PTSD, with a TBI, I write strange sometimes, Its ok to jump me when I write My "coded" messages I'm used to that, I have very thick skin, I was wondering about LED lights seeing how one of the regular  bulbs melted through the floor of one of the buildings, It got taken wrong, The wires are so small! my hands don't work like they used to, but I make the best of things an keep going, I bought a MircoAce engine {I liked it} what a mistake what  junk, {it was new} lesion learned,, I tried to post some pics but forgot how to,, I got back into trains to keep from going crazy over the winter months, I guess I should have stuck to Harleys its what I know best, was well respected in a few forums an helped out in a couple of tech forums also, Don't judge me, doesn't sit well with me , I'm no crazy ass fool!!   Its all been a learning curve for me, most of which I've taught myself through trail an error Thank God they weren't expensive mistakes,    So if an I say if, Im not welcomed in here just say so, Ill leave no big deal no loss    Thanks

 

Thanks for explaining that. For what it's worth, you're expressing exactly how I felt when I started messing around with those tiny wires. It does get easier with practice, but it's never easy. 

 

Welcome!

[cteno4]

Jimbo

 

thanks helps make sense of things. Happy to have you here and learn and interact, just please read your posts to make sure its clear to others what youre talking about and many times its the photos that help really explaing stuff! yell if you still need some help in getting picts in. We can let you know politely when things needs some clarification for others to understand.

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Martijn Meerts]

On 11/26/2019 at 1:05 AM, Jimbo said:

Well now a little about myself, I suffer  PTSD, with a TBI, I write strange sometimes, Its ok to jump me when I write My "coded" messages I'm used to that, I have very thick skin, I was wondering about LED lights seeing how one of the regular  bulbs melted through the floor of one of the buildings, It got taken wrong, The wires are so small! my hands don't work like they used to, but I make the best of things an keep going, I bought a MircoAce engine {I liked it} what a mistake what  junk, {it was new} lesion learned,, I tried to post some pics but forgot how to,, I got back into trains to keep from going crazy over the winter months, I guess I should have stuck to Harleys its what I know best, was well respected in a few forums an helped out in a couple of tech forums also, Don't judge me, doesn't sit well with me , I'm no crazy ass fool!!   Its all been a learning curve for me, most of which I've taught myself through trail an error Thank God they weren't expensive mistakes,    So if an I say if, Im not welcomed in here just say so, Ill leave no big deal no loss    Thanks

 

Everyone is welcome here 🙂

 

MicroAce can be very much a hit and miss thing. I have quite a lot of MicroAce models, and while most of them are good (some even great), there are also some where you wonder how they ever got through quality control, or indeed if they even went through quality control at all. For models that Kato, Tomix and MicroAce make, I generally don't pick the MicroAce version, but for models that only MicroAce makes, and I'm interested in it, I'll still buy it.

 

But yeah, it can be really off-putting getting a brand new model and then having it not run well, but at least the Kato and Tomix models generally run better than anything else produced world wide.

[Sheffie]

MicroAce is dead to me. They shipped me a locomotive that didn’t run properly for two minutes—and when I returned it, they said it was my fault.

 

sorry to hear that you bought one too

 

 

Micro Ace is for experienced rail modelers who enjoy taking apart and fixing locomotives that are brand new. 

[cteno4]

I disagree that microace is that bad. Lemons happen. I have dozens of microace train sets and over a dozen microace locos and none have come running really badly. Some come a bit growly when they arrived and needed a tiny bit of lubing, but I’ve had the same issue with Kato and Tomix. Maybe a bit higher percentage needing some lubing than Tomix, kato, and greenmax, but I only have a couple hundred trains so probably not enough for statistics yet.

 

ive only had one ma train need total tearing apart and repair, but that was a very old dr yellow that got a huge amount of use and exposure to dirt at club shows. I’ve had the same issue with Kato and Tomix shinkansens that have gotten excessive use.

 

im sorry you both have problem ma trains, but from my experience I can’t damn them.

 

jeff

[katoftw]

Not one issue with MicroAce trains except the price. The huge price eg 3x Tomix or Kato prices put me off. I only buy MicroAce when Tomix or Kato dont make the model.

 

 I had to rebuild one Tomix model due to the motor car being over greased. Kato I have yet to come across one problem. Only got one Greenmax, so cannot make assessment of the maker.

[Jimbo]

I have a ma emu an it works fine go figure??

[cteno4]

I think most of us have a train that was a lemon that everyone else had no issues with. The good thing about Japanese trains in general is there are few that are just general watch out don’t buy because of a really consistent problem. Tomix had some locos that use a long spring as a drive shaft and worm drive that give pretty consistent issues to many. There are others as well, but for the most part it’s pretty safe.
 

Buying second had done also puts a big question mark on where the issues may come from. I’ve seen some awful train abuse over the decades...

 

cheers

 

jeff

[Jimbo]

Jeff I have two that  I bought used off e bay  an they run great both used very little so I was told,,

[railsquid]

The first Kato locomotive I bought (a DE10) was a complete lemon (very loud and the lights didn't work) so I had to send it back (IIRC with the help of advice from this forum because at that point I had no idea what was normal). Also had a new Tomix EF66 which didn't run very well (but not badly enough for the shop to take it back), I eventually traced the fault to a tiny piece of plastic flash in a bogie mount interfering with the gears.

 

I've never had any particular issues with MicroAce multiple units (apart from those I've bought 2nd-hand as poor runners for repair). Locomotives do seem a bit hit-and-miss, in contrast to multiple units MicroAce seem to keep changing the way they design locomotive mechanisms, it seems every time I open one up there's something different inside, and while they do sometimes have "features" I've not seen elsewhere (like pickups on non-powered bogies) the equivalent Kato/Tomix model (if available) is probably a better bet. Having said that, the old-style electric locos from MicroAce are (in my experience) generally very solid and reliable.

[cteno4]

That’s good. I’ve gotten some great finds on ebay, only a couple of Turkeys that we’re beat on much more than seller admitted. But cheap enough to be ok with some tinkering. Just can’t judge any brands via any used equipment as you are never sure what was the produced train and what was the abuse it took in someone’s else’s hands...

 

jeff

[Sheffie]

For me, the percentage of a manufacturer’s locos that are problematic is less important than how that manufacturer handles problems that do arise. Returning a brand new product that doesn’t work ought to get an apology for inconvenience, an effort to remedy the problem as quickly and completely as possible, and a reimbursement of any expenses incurred...NOT a shakedown for 3,000 yen cleaning fee plus shipping costs. I can forgive a manufacturer for making mistakes, but not for adding insult to injury.