Fleischmann, Zephyr, Snap Track, & Scenic Ridge questions

[Anonymous]

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]

Anybody have comments? [:D]

Was I too wordy? Am I not clear? ^^

Philip

[IRONROOSTER]

I would suggest you repost this on the Model Railroader Forum / General Discussion. More people will see it. Sorry I can't help with your questions, but I don't have experience with the things you listed.
Good luck
Paul

[Anonymous]

The flickering is pretty much par for the course sad to say - the cars are only picking up on four wheels and are fairly lightweight. All you can do is keep the track and wheels as clean as possible - this should make it work acceptably. As far as the loco is concerned it could be anything - sometimes the light "guides" can be out of place by a couple of millimetres which would make the lights at one end dimmer than the other. So long as it runs well and isn't overheating I wouldn't worry about it. Hope this is of help!

[Anonymous]

Thanks _brit! That helps.

Just as reference, I re-posted this thread here:
http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=50418

Philip