current keepers

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
21

My layout and club are hand laid. No need for keep alive. John Allen track cleaner helps.

Rich

22

Yes, They are called Lokpilots. Lok rhymes with Poke, not Lock, FYI

23

Thanks, Henry, I’ll look into those.

Rich: My track is Micro Engineering and Atlas (in staging) flextrack. All switches are hand laid with power frogs. Dust doesn’t care. it eventually accumulates. I don’t mind reasonable track maint. Remind me of what a John Allen track cleaner is? Probably seen it, but…

I didn’t see any provision for keep alives (current keepers, stay alive) on ESU’s website. Suggestions? Dan

24

Locomotives with intermittent pickup issues can be helped immensely with keep-alives, regardless of what type of track and turnouts you use. Things like old brass steam, my Walthers Sperry car, etc. Good track doesn’t cure every electrical issue with a mechanism.

25

Dan:

Look under ‘Accessories’ lower down on the left side of the main page. ESU calls their keep alives ‘Power Packs’.

http://www.esu.eu/en/products/accessories/

Dave

26

The prices I found on ECU were pretty discouraging. Looking at about 60 to 75 bucks per locomotive for decoder and stay alive, plus shiping.

I found a brand; DCC Concepts - Zen, that sounds far more affordable. Any thoughts?

27

Dan,

Which other websites did you check for pricing besides DCC Concepts? Litchfield and Tony’s Train Exchange offer good pricing, if you haven’t looked there already.

Tom

28

Yeah, I thought keep alive or choose the name, could be about $30 each.

29

I think ESU gets more money because their “keep alives” are smaller. I’ve got one of their small ones going into a switcher. In this case, ESU all the way.

Ed

30

Howard,

I started installing keep-alives several years ago when they first came out. Not all locos need them. Big wheelbase/articulated engines generally don’t need them. Where the “keepers” shine is in finicky, small brass steam. I do hope that the cost gets so low that do become standard on new stuff – especially for Blackstone HON3 and Spectrum small steam.

I have found the “keepers” to be quite effective at curing small hiccups and haven’t had any problems with the locos driving through barriers, off cliffs etc… During my last open house I used a “keeper” equipped loco and found I didn’t need to clean track to run it (a first!!!) – I was stoked!!!

Guy