Never mind -- Slow speed problems with Atlas N scale locos?

[peteski]

In the Arnold SW1 thread @coosvalley mentioned that his (DC) SW1 has excellent slow speed and it is much better than Atlas DC locos.  I'm interested in discussing this further, that's why I spun off a new thread.

Here is his original post:
It's not just that, but they [Arnold SW1s] run so smoothly at their slowest speeds, even on my filtered DC power pack. The only other loco in N scale that runs so well at slow speeds is the Atlas VO-1000, IMHO. Even my Atlas locos seem like terrible runners, when compared to these little things.Considering these are so small, and very lightweight , they fact that they run well at all is impressive to me.

So coosvalley, which Atlas locos have poor slow speed, and what (if anything) have you done to try to improve their performance?  Atlas (low-friction) mechanism's should be capable of smooth slow speed running.

[coosvalley]

I mean they don't run great when compared to my SW1s, not that there's anything wrong with the Atlas diesels, IMHO. I actually really like my Atlas Scale speed motor equipped locos( I don't like my S2s, but they're a unique design). I think you missed the "when compared to" part of my post. And, it's purely my opinion, so there's no need for any further clarification. Go discuss some board gaps, nothing going on here

[peteski]

I mean they don't run great when compared to my SW1s, not that there's anything wrong with the Atlas diesels, IMHO. I actually really like my Atlas Scale speed motor equipped locos( I don't like my S2s, but they're a unique design). I think you missed the "when compared to" part of my post. And, it's purely my opinion, so there's no need for any further clarification. Go discuss some board gaps, nothing going on here

 Sorry! I was just curious and trying to help.  I understood what you wrote.

[coosvalley]

No, I was mostly kidding, I just didn't want anyone to think I had some sort of issue with how my Atlas locos run, I think they are pretty good at slow speed performance, just maybe not as smooth as my SW1s at tie crawling speeds..

In fact, my black CR Geep has gotten quite a few hours on it switching the Canal Line!

[peteski]

What you wrote: "Even my Atlas locos seem like terrible runners, when compared to these little things"  doesn't seem like a joke to me, but I guess never mind.

[Cajonpassfan]

I mean they don't run great when compared to my SW1s, not that there's anything wrong with the Atlas diesels, IMHO. I actually really like my Atlas Scale speed motor equipped locos( I don't like my S2s, but they're a unique design). I think you missed the "when compared to" part of my post. And, it's purely my opinion, so there's no need for any further clarification. Go discuss some board gaps, nothing going on here

Not trying to stir anything up, just curious about what you're not liking about the S2's? Splitting gears?
(I have several undecs, mostly still in boxes). The one I do run seems okay, and it looks and sounds good...
Otto K.

[coosvalley]

What you wrote: "Even my Atlas locos seem like terrible runners, when compared to these little things"  doesn't seem like a joke to me, but I guess never mind.

Wow, you are great at not understanding me. I was joking with YOU when I told you to go discuss some board gaps

Not trying to stir anything up, just curious about what you're not liking about the S2's? Splitting gears?
(I have several undecs, mostly still in boxes). The one I do run seems okay, and it looks and sounds good...
Otto K.

My experience with the sound units is limited, but the cut-outs remind me of way back when CDs used to skip all the time. I'm actually not a fan of "tin can" sound that comes from even the best N scale sound systems, so the whole gimmick of sound does not factor into my "review" of my S2s.

On DC-They have a high starting speed, and keep going faster. Both of mine had the split gear thing going on, but I have them fixed, for now, as the replacements are likely to split too.But that's not cool. And, at minimum speeds, they exhibit a slight motor cogging behavior. Filtered DC shows how well a loco actually runs, without any special waveforms to encourage the motor to behave better, and that's what I've found, YMMV. Visually, the only thing I don't like is the windows, but otherwise,I think they look great. But I care about how well it runs as much as how it looks.

Maybe I'll shoot a video to show the difference between the two locos. I even prefer my Bachmann NW2 over my S2 when it comes to it's running quality. Yes, I'm saying a Bachmann switcher runs better than an Atlas one. I can't believe it either.

But it's all opinion. I'm no locomotive guru who's opinion should matter all that much to any one else!

[peteski]

Wow, you are great at not understanding me. I was joking with YOU when I told you to go discuss some board gaps

The board gaps thing I did understand (along with the  ) smiley.


But I was still thinking about your original post and about your response here, where you said that you were joking about the problems you had with Atlas locos not running smoothly at low speeds.  So I went back to re-read your original post to check why I missed the point of your joke. But again, your "Even my Atlas locos seem like terrible runners, when compared to these little things" statement didn't seem like a joke, or even remotely funny.  Maybe I'm just dense.

You were right - let's forget about this.   I'll ask Mods to delete this thread.

[Point353]

On DC-They have a high starting speed, and keep going faster. Both of mine had the split gear thing going on, but I have them fixed, for now, as the replacements are likely to split too.But that's not cool. And, at minimum speeds, they exhibit a slight motor cogging behavior. Filtered DC shows how well a loco actually runs, without any special waveforms to encourage the motor to behave better, and that's what I've found, YMMV.

Are you referring to the difference in the way a dual-mode decoder-equipped (Altas gold) loco runs on "filtered DC" versus some sort of "special waveform" or is this a difference you've observed using a decoderless/DC-only (Atlas silver) loco?

[coosvalley]

silver-DC only

[coosvalley]

The board gaps thing I did understand (along with the  ) smiley.


But I was still thinking about your original post and about your response here, where you said that you were joking about the problems you had with Atlas locos not running smoothly at low speeds.  So I went back to re-read your original post to check why I missed the point of your joke. But again, your "Even my Atlas locos seem like terrible runners, when compared to these little things" statement didn't seem like a joke, or even remotely funny.  Maybe I'm just dense.

You were right - let's forget about this.   I'll ask Mods to delete this thread.

NO, NO ,NO ..The Joke I referred to was the part where I told YOU to go discuss board gaps. I have no idea why you think "Even my Atlas locos seem like terrible runners, when compared to these little things" was a joke?..

[peteski]

NO, NO ,NO ..The Joke I referred to was the part where I told YOU to go discuss board gaps. I have no idea why you think "Even my Atlas locos seem like terrible runners, when compared to these little things" was a joke?..

WOW!  We are totally miss-communicating here. It must be me. 

Let's start over.  That will probably be the clearest way to do explain.

Back in the SW1 thread you posted a message where you stated:
It's not just that, but they [Arnold SW1s] run so smoothly at their slowest speeds, even on my filtered DC power pack. The only other loco in N scale that runs so well at slow speeds is the Atlas VO-1000, IMHO. Even my Atlas locos seem like terrible runners, when compared to these little things.Considering these are so small, and very lightweight , they fact that they run well at all is impressive to me.

That statement to me (especially the "Atlas locos seem like terrible runners, when compared to these little things" seemed to clearly indicate that at least some of your Atlas locos perform *VERY* poorly.  Nowhere in your post you indicated that that you were joking (not even a smiley), and and nothing in the context of that message sounded like a joke to me.  So silly me decided that you might be happier if those terribly-running models were to made run better, so I started this thread. We have quite a think-tank of very clever modelers here and I thought we could brainstorm the problem, and help you out in improving the performance of those terribly-running models.

You saw this thread and you came right back saying: nevermind, the locos are fine, it was all a joke, and for me to go to the board gaps. I did understand that this last statement was a joke.

But I was confused as to what indications of a joke I have missed in your original post, so I went back and re-read it, but I still didn't find  anything in there which would show me that your terribly-running Atlas locos statement was in jest.  Sorry.

So, I do understand that you made a joke by telling me to go back to the board gaps, but I still can't find  any humor in your terrible-runners statement.  But since you say it is, and you do not wish continue dealing with this, we won't. I hope my explanation was clear enough.

[coosvalley]

 

Dude, you gotta get this straight....I was not joking when I said " Atlas locos seem like terrible runners, when compared to these little things"...

Why is that so hard for you to understand?
The only joke was ME telling YOU to go discuss board gaps.

Is anyone else having a hard time understanding this?

Maybe stop trying to find great meaning in my words?..I dunno what else to tell ya.

[Point353]

....I was not joking when I said " Atlas locos seem like terrible runners, when compared to these little things"...

In that case, peteski seems anxious to investigate why your Atlas locos "don't run great when compared to [your] SW1s" and are "maybe not as smooth as [your] SW1s at tie crawling speeds".
He may be able to find a way to make the Atlas locos perform as well or better than the Arnold locos.

[peteski]

Dude, you gotta get this straight....I was not joking when I said " Atlas locos seem like terrible runners, when compared to these little things"...

Why is that so hard for you to understand?
The only joke was ME telling YOU to go discuss board gaps.

Is anyone else having a hard time understanding this?

Maybe stop trying to find great meaning in my words?..I dunno what else to tell ya.

OK, finally got it now.  But you just don't want anybody to try to help you to improve the running quality of those terrible runners (compared to the SW1)? Well, all except for the Atlas VO-1000.  Got it.  Sorry that I tried to "help".