My entire collection of French railway models is divided into two parts - modern dc models and old models produced for the ac system, such as Vollon et Brun (VB) or old S.M.C.F. models or Märklin models. The wagon models are simply adapted by replacing wheelsets with similar-sized ones. For Märklin, PIKO 10.3 mm wheels are suitable, for VB - 11.3 mm
Very interesting excurse to HAMO, Märklin's try on DC. Furthermore your explaination how you put your childhood coach back on your current track was helpful and interesting. All the best Valentin
Hi Erik, Its good of you to explain to other modellers the difference between AC +DC as a newcomer might not know about shorting and destroy a loco. I like to think converting Locos such as your Marklin E Loco with a Lima chassis means you now have a Loco you had as a child. As for not being the same chassis, when its running on a layout its not easy to see the chassis or wheels.. Cheers, Paul.👍👍
An interesting and useful video, good to see it. I think also Fleischmann had a time of AC system, or maybe they had AC and DC products in parallel. The same with Trix. Thanks for the video, have a nice evening! / Chris
I recently returned to the hobby of model railways after a 40 year break and this AC/DC issue confused me at first. When you add the complication of analogue/digital, there are at the end of it four incompatible systems. So far I have stuck to DC analogue, but I did acquire a Maerklin wagon which immediately shorted out my DC controller. I also managed to buy by mistake a Lima loco converted to 3 rail AC analogue. Having four incompatible systems is very frustrating!
Hi Ben, yes it is a pity that there are different systems. I have an old Lima transformer and a piece of track where I can test acquired rolling stock before using it on my layout. Usually you can see it if wheels are isolated or not, but not always. Older Piko wheels are a bit tricky: no isolation visible and I have had AC-versions and burned my Trix transformer 😢 My new Piko transformer is better by the way. I have no plans to go digital: much to expensive and I don't like the hollow sounds. Thanks for watching 🙏👍
It is not needed to define 2 rail track as DC and 3 rail track as AC. The difference between DC and AC is not tied to the number of rails. DC = direct current and AC is alternate current. With DC the + will always be on the same rail and with AC the + and - will switch between two rails based on the curretn frequency. So it's possible to run DC on the Marklin rails. Where the outer tracks will have the + or - and the middle rail will be the opposite and not alternate. I am currently converting my marklin locks to DCC and will be using the 3 rail configuration.
