Fleischmann, Zephyr, Snap Track, & Scenic Ridge questions

[Anonymous]

I originally posted this here:
http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=50068
and I guess here is a more appropriate forum to post this. Woops, sorry! :|

***

Greetings everybody,

Some specs:
- Fleischmann 87075
- Fleischmann 8660-8663 with lighting 9455
- Digitrax Zephyr DCC transformer
- Woodlands Scenics Scenic Ridge
- Atlas Scenic Ridge Track Pack (this is snap track)
- I have feeders at least every 10 feet (currently I have 3 feeders). Sound good?
- I did have to change the speed step of the 87075 to 128 operation because that's the default of the Zephyr (and much smoother then the loco's default of 14).

Note: You can search for my fleischmann equipment at http://www.fleischmann.de/ -- sorry, somehow direct links don't work. :(

1. For then Fleischmann 87075 I noticed that the front lighting is dimmer then the lighting in the back. I thought this was a defect and opened it up to take a peek. But I noticed that the configuration in the front naturally seems to provide less light to the "outlet" then in the one in the back. There is more of a curvature that the light has to go around. Anybody else have this loco and notice that? Is that normal? I just want to make sure that I don't have some kind of problem with my new loco.

2. I have the rail cars Fleischmann 8660-8663 with lighting 9455. I noticed when these cars roll around the lighting sometimes flickers (esp. if I give them a push with my finger instead of hooking them up to the loco). Most of the time not huge, but I guess I'm pretty sensitive to those things. Is that normal? I actually consider it a "feature" since I'm sure in the 1930/40s electricity wasn't as reliable as today. But I just want to make sure everything is OK.

BTW: No problem with using this lighting on a DCC layout, correct? I mean, it doesn't interfere with the loco, does it?

3. (this may be related to 2) I noticed that my loco from 1) sometimes has a little bit flickery light and sometimes it's a little jumpy (mind you -- not huge at all, but I'm pretty sensitive about these things:). I have Atlas N scale snap track that I currently just put (not glued!) ontop of foam in order to test things. Admittedly things seem a bit bumpy right now and some of my snap connectors have tiny (0.5mm) gaps. I'm thinking once I glue it on trackbed things with smoothen out.

Just wanted to bounce all these things off you guys, I'm really new to all this so I just want to make sure this is all normal. And maybe you folks have some hints on things I'm doing wrong.

cheers,
Philip
P.S.: These purchases are partially based of posts I made a month or so ago. Thanks so much guys! I know I may have made tradeoffs but I'm pretty happy so far except with my anxiousness about the above.

[Anonymous]

Welcome aboard - I just posted a reply over in the Trains forum. Lighting under DCC isn't usually a problem though you may want to consider changing over to higher-voltage bulbs or adding resistors to avoid melting anything.

[modelmaker51]

Flickering lights can usually be traced to dirty track or dirty wheels or both.

Many people here have mentioned that they use a auto polish (for chrome) to poli***he rail tops after cleaning to keep them clean longer.

Others have used hair-clipper oil on the track (Wahl is an american brand), also with good results. With the clipper oil, just put a smalll drop on each rail every 10 feet, run a loco around for a while to spread the oil. This special oil also seems to add traction to the locomotives.

With your loco, check to make sure that the light source is aimed directly at the center of the "light-pipe". If it is off center, it will look dimmer. However, it could also have something to do with the CV settings for the light.