Fox Valley wheels - with resistors

[GaryHinshaw]

Fox Valley Models has announced that many of their wheelset sizes will now be available with 10K resistors added, for those of us using current-sensing block detection.  Yea!

https://www.facebook.com/92694309796/photos/pcb.10153544664464797/10153544659974797/?type=1&theater

Toy train Heaven shows an MSRP of $18 for a 12-pack (but you only need 1 per car for full detection).   This will save me a lot of work.

[ryan_wilkerson]

Yeah, I saw that photo and thought it was a great idea. Not much more expensive than the standard metal wheelsets.
Listed at Caboose Hobbies:
http://www.caboosehobbies.com/catalog/newitems_result.php?sort=2a&scales_name=N+Scale&dto=08%2F01%2F2015&dfrom=07%2F01%2F2015&filter_id=1257

[railnerd]

Called my local pusher and asked him to order some for me…  could be a real time saver.

[reinhardtjh]

It was posted on FVM's FaceBook page a few days ago in their new products announcement.  IIRC, it's a semi-experiment because it's a pain for them to do. But if they sell they will keep them.  So if you want them, don't put it off, they may not be available long.

The last new announcement is the addition of 10K resistors to some of our more popular N Scale Metal Wheels. Customers have asked for these and we have decided to try a very limited batch to see how they do. While a nifty idea, these are fragile and should be handled with care. We also recommend installing resistor wheels on the inboard axles on your cars - away from any clearance issues like coupler boxes. Based upon feedback from this group, we may add these to our regular line up if demand is there. As this is a limited batch, Distributors are limited to a dozen of each unit. These will start shipping next week.

Announcement:
http://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=10153544664464797&id=92694309796

[C855B]

It was posted on FVM's FaceBook page a few days ago in their new products announcement.  IIRC, it's a semi-experiment because it's a pain for them to do. But if they sell they will keep them.  So if you want them, don't put it off, they may not be available long. ...

Thanks for the heads-up. I suppose I'm somewhat disappointed about the small quantities, as (in theory) I have about 500-600 cars that would need to be equipped. OTOH, doing resistor wheelsets on my own was somewhere in the project list once layout construction was under way, so if I can get a handful of the pre-mades, that would mean fewer I have to make myself.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Wooo!

This is awesome news.

[Santa Fe Guy]

That is indeed great news pity mine are all done. I stuffed mine up so got one of my not so old friends to do them LOL.
But what a time saver.

[reinhardtjh]

These went in and out of stock (mostly) at MBK's yesterday.  Hopefully some got what they wanted.

http://www.modeltrainstuff.com/N-Scale-Trucks-Wheelsets-s/1474.htm?searching=Y&sort=3&cat=1474&show=30&page=1&brand=Fox%20Valley%20Models

[C855B]

Didn't see them come and go... there are other things in my life to do besides refreshing some site every five minutes. I'll try my other sources on the near-zero chance I might be able to snag a few.

[sigh]

Pre-order is one thing, but these you-snooze-you-lose short runs (...Trainworx trucks...) are infuriating. Are the makers... bless their hearts... that phobic about having one or two left on the shelves at the end of the week? Really?

Seriously... I appreciate the efforts behind new, untested concepts, but give us a f'in' chance, will ya?

[jereising]

I think its more like MBK simply doesn't order large quantities of anything except Kato and Micro-Trains.   I guess they don't want to get stuck with a large inventory if they don't sell.

I don't know who does their ordering, but whomever they are, they have missed a lot of sales because they didn't bring in enough.  And they don't reorder at all a lot of the time.

But if I know something is coming, something I need, I watch their site like a hawk. 

It's what we have to deal with.

[bbussey]

Being cautious on the initial release of an expensive new concept is understandable.  And it's not "one or two left on the shelves" that is a problem, it's dozens or hundreds, which translates into tied-up money that can't be used to initiate future projects.

And one note about the Trainworx "cinema and television" trucks — they were available direct, and there was ample opportunity here for people to purchase them even if they weren't available in the online stores.

[GaryHinshaw]

I was on the road yesterday, so I missed them.  But note the language in the release note (my emphasis in bold):

The last new announcement is the addition of 10K resistors to some of our more popular N Scale Metal Wheels. Customers have asked for these and we have decided to try a very limited batch to see how they do. While a nifty idea, these are fragile and should be handled with care. We also recommend installing resistor wheels on the inboard axles on your cars - away from any clearance issues like coupler boxes. Based upon feedback from this group, we may add these to our regular line up if demand is there.  As this is a limited batch, Distributors are limited to a dozen of each unit. These will start shipping next week.

Hopefully Matt will add these to the regular lineup.

[C855B]

... Hopefully Matt will add these to the regular lineup.

Well, I hope so, too. Enough so that it would be worth the train trip to Chicago to twist his arm about it. (HERE! TAKE MY MONEY! PLEASE! lol)

Adding insult was the response from my regular go-to supplier: "...we have some wheelsets on order.  If/When they arrive we will post it to our newsletter.  It will be first come first serve." So, again, ya' gotta be glued to the screen, or lose out.

It's not like I can't do these wheelsets myself. A 0603 resistor, a dab of epoxy, two dabs of silver-bearing paint... done. I could easily whip out 20-25 while watching the TV news. But it's tedious with the volume I need, and given that my project list will most certainly out-survive me, "buy vs. make" is clearly tilting in the direction of "buy". Heck, I'm trying to figure out how to make the time to build all the Showcase signals sitting on my bench. 

[Philip H]

So one per car but do you need to do every car? And what about locos running lite?

[C855B]

One per NON-POWERED and NON-LIGHTED car. The most common detection scheme is sensing current across the rails, so motor or lights also serve the function. The 10K resistor is generally considered the target for reliable current sensing in the MRR environment. More resistance (therefore less current) will work with some circuits, but you have to turn up the sensitivity to detect single cars, and subsequently the risk of false detection increases.

If you make/break trains by the car you will need one set per car. Unit trains or similar trains you don't intend to break up will do fine with two or three cars per your shortest block. HOWEVER, if you go all-out about detection in interlockings and sidings where switches have their own detection block - every car will need a resistor wheelset.

EDIT - One thing frequently not said about resistor wheelsets is the almost-obvious, you need to keep the wheels clean. Ignoring a resistor-equipped fleet and letting the wheels get dirty can result in flaky detection. I've seen it on a number of HO layouts - dirty wheels causing detection to cut in and out.