Stories from the workshop

Yours Truly has promised a story about a Mikado. Straight from the workshop, here we go:

Klaus had a Mikado on his bench with this customer complaint: The Mikado is not running properly AND is running in one direction only, backwards. The Mikado came with the remote control "Revolution" by Aristocraft- So Klaus went to work. He tested the motor, motor was working fine. He tested the receiver. (In the Aristocraft Revolution remote system, a receiver is installed into the loco providing receiver and decoding functions.) The receiver was working fine. He checked the wiring. The wiring was not properly done. So he rewired the hole Mikado. Now it was running properly and alright- BUT alas still only backwards.

Klaus got into contact with the service department at Aristocraft, discussed the phenomenon and his test results and they decided to have the "Revolution" remote tested by Aristocraft. Out went the remote to Aristocraft and back came the remote from Aristocraft. The service technician - by the way the nicest guy you could wish for - said, the remote was working fine. So Klaus went back to the drawing board. More testing. When he opened the Mikado, again, he noticed -again- that little clump in the middle of the wiring that he had thought was a connector clip, mantled for protection. His gut feeling told him: open that darn thing. So he removed the shrink tube covering the clump and guess what he found....?? A diode!!

Now you're asking why would anybody put a diode there? No function, no need, no sense to put that diode there. Klaus removed that thing and - yes, you guessed it right- that Mikado ran as superb as an LGB engine can run, backwards, forwards, around the track, braking, just as it always was meant to be.
Bottom line: unqualified installers - they take your money, they take your engine to the....

Bottom line 2: Do Not Fear- Klaus is here.

And on that note let me end with this photo report of Klaus testing the new Uhlenbrock driving and sound decoders.

Just one more thing: Klaus is a happy camper - again-! More on the results later this month on our web page(www.traincraftbyklaus.com) and right here.

Preview testing results: better value for your money,  really great sound, modern technology.

And for those of you looking into some hard-to-find LGB stuff: loco magnets, cleaning -blocks, -stripes and -wheels, and alpha-brass track clamps are in stock right now.