I’m interested in the HO Con-Cor Aero Train, M10000 and Zepher trains. I’ve heard in the past that some of their engines did not run very well. Have the performance issues been resolved? How do they run now? Do they run well at slow speeds? Also, what radius curves do they need? The Aero Train is the only one that is not articulated. Would it do well with tighter curves than the other two? I would appreciate any input about these trains. Thanks.
I have the original Con-Cor “Pioneeer Zephyr” and I have had no problems with the running qualities at all. The power car runs very smoothly through all speed ranges (I’ve added the fourth car, BTW) and is very quiet and smooth. I run DC, so I cannot comment on how it runs converted to DCC. As far as radius–my minimum radius is 34", so I can’t help you on tighter radii, but watching it on my layout, I should think that a 22" radius would not constrict it very much at all, because even though articulated, the cars are quite short.
I like the train very much. It’s beautifully detailed, and I run it frequently on my MR.
Tom [:)]
Two members of our HO scale club purchased the Pioneer Zephyr set.
One of them ran about 5 minutes and went up in smoke. Since we live within 70 miles of Con-Cor’s offices in Tucson, Arizona, that set was taken back and the owner replaced it. No problems since.
I installed a DCC decoder into the second one and it ran very well. What I liked most about them was the way all of the coaches interconnected electrically so all of the wheels picked up current. This eliminated any light flickering from dirty track or dirty wheels.
I can’t say what their minimum radius was because the club layout is 24 minimum. They may be okay on 18, but would really look ridiculous trying to do so.
Before Christmas I have bought me the Aero Train and it runs very well on DC - I added a Lokpilot Decoder and it runs very, very good and no problems with the full consist of 9 cars either.
I’m pretty impressed by the overall quality on this Train and can only highly recommend it to anyone.
I have the Pioneer Zephyr. It is a very smooth and quiet runner. It negotiates my 23"radius curves easily. I’ve fitted a Locksound decoder with the original Zephyr sounds. It now sounds great too.
Jim.