Operating Tips and Tricks

- By Augie Jagau

Here are tips for running Z engines which have worked well for me to considerably improve operating performance:

Tracks and Power Supply

• Clean your tracks thoroughly and frequently! ROCO has a track cleaner made from some abrasive rubber-foam material. I cut up the block ROCO ships into smaller pieces to fit Z scale track. Passing the cleaning "piece" over the tracks removes all the grime while not damaging the rails too much (their surface becomes rougher than original; however this may improve traction). In addition, every now and again I carefully vacuum my tracks!
• Supply power in several places along your track I find having pieces of track with power feed spaced out at approx. every 3 feet makes trains run a lot better.
• Make sure your power packs do indeed supply a total 8 volts! I have one pack which gives off less than the rated voltage resulting in engines being considerably slower than expected.

General Engine Maintenance

• Clean your engines regularly! This is particularly important for the engines of the ICE! Cleaning means: remove all lint which may be caught between the wheels; avoid over-lubrication; inspect the brushes and clean their guides. Should the engine block ever become oily, you will either have to take the engine apart or have it cleaned by a dealer (costs in Germany approx. $80,--/engine).
• Remove Lint from Engines Regularly check the underside of your engines for lint and grime caught between the wheels and the carriage. Also, inspect the axles to make sure no hair has gotten wrapped around them. I use tweezers with pointed tips to remove lint and hairs. For grime removal pieces of kitchen towel or the Minitrix engine wheel cleaner brush work well (the Minitrix brush is actually designed for N scale but works for Z engines too).
• Engine Warm-Up I have mounted a short piece of track with a buffer stop either end on a piece of ply-wood. This test track has a power feed so that I can run my engines on it. Engines which I have not operated for a while I put on this test track and drive them gently against either buffer stop. Once the engine moves no further I turn up the power and let the engine "churn" for about half a minute. Of course, this will work on any track terminated with a buffer stop on your lay-out also.

Special ICE Train Handling

• Make sure ICE couplers are seated properly! The couplers between the engines and the cars of the ICE train are certainly the weakest "link" of this Märklin product!! The little bars have a copper plating which conducts electricity along the train and (very crucial!) the rear engine. The copper plates easily bend out of shape, become warped, and otherwise misaligned. All of this makes for poor connections which result in the ICE train running erratically. A dealer recommended to leave the ICE train always coupled; I have opted for having a supply of factory-fresh couplers on hand instead.