Piko V 60

[yb281]

No problems with the tricky R1 reverse curve over the bridge, either for the wheels or the couplings.

 

[yb281]

Crossing the road in the town area with Mr Piko at the controls.

 

[yb281]

A demonstration of the overhang as the loco rounds the curve on the approach to Castle Halt. Overhang is about the same as Piko's railcar, but tends to catch lineside objects at a lower level. I've had to make some adjustments to objects that the railbus's buffers will pass over.

 

[yb281]

Back on shed at the end of a busy day.

Finally, some thoughts from this early testing;

Pros
A beautiful model, really well made.
Clever engineering of the long wheelbase to allow use on R1's.
An incredibly quiet runner, even when nowhere near run-in. As opposed to my railbus which sounds like it's got a sound chip fitted.
Plenty of electrical pick-ups.
Very heavy and powerful. It will be interesting to get this onto a bigger railway and see just how much it can pull.
Value for money. Even at full price (£270 - £280), you get a lot of loco for your money.
VERY easy to fit, plug and play chip and soundcard will be available.

Cons (other than the use of a VERY rubber ruler )
Any slight fluctuation in electrical continuity causes the rear direction lights to flash on. I wonder if fitting a chip would smooth this out?
As the loco is sold in analogue condition, IMO Piko really should fit a simple isolation switch.
The handrails are quite brittle. Difficult to see them lasting long in a garden railway environment.

I'll report more as the V60 gets more mileage under it's belt.

 

[yb281]

Crossing the road in the town area with Mr Piko at the controls.

All the lineside house occupants will have to be railfans - with a big jobbie like that rumbling past !

Indeed, I bet it rattles the old plates on the Welsh dresser Paul .

 

[steve parberry]

How about a yellow one

 

[chris m01]

It looks nice but what scale is it? It seems to look larger than everything else in the photos.

 

[JonathanJ]

Hi,

I'm guessing this is to Piko's usual 1:27 (ish) scale, halfway house between G and 1.. Can someone do me a favour and run a ruler over one to find the wheel diameter and wheelbase? Interested to know what else it might fir, though sadly doesn't look quite right for a 14..

J.

 

[casey jones snr]

It looks nice but what scale is it? It seems to look larger than everything else in the photos.

No rubber ruler. Body is close to 1/24 scale. Here is a shot with my 1/24 scale Casey stood on the front.
I have had a problem with the coupling rods. One snapped whilst running on the CFR. They were quickly replaced by Dragon(many thanks Jeremy).

 

[Zerogee]

Nice looking loco!

Any idea what sort of current it draws? For chipping one with Massoth rather than Piko, I'm wondering whether an LS would be powerful enough or an XLS would be required?

 

[casey jones snr]

Nice looking loco!

Any idea what sort of current it draws? For chipping one with Massoth rather than Piko, I'm wondering whether an LS would be powerful enough or an XLS would be required?

Not sure. I will have a look at the readouts this weekend.

 

[whatlep]

Nice looking loco!

Any idea what sort of current it draws? For chipping one with Massoth rather than Piko, I'm wondering whether an LS would be powerful enough or an XLS would be required?

Not sure. I will have a look at the readouts this weekend.

The Piko standard motor has a potential peak demand of 2 amps. You'll need a Massoth XL or XLS to be safe.

 

[Zerogee]

Nice looking loco!

Any idea what sort of current it draws? For chipping one with Massoth rather than Piko, I'm wondering whether an LS would be powerful enough or an XLS would be required?

Not sure. I will have a look at the readouts this weekend.

The Piko standard motor has a potential peak demand of 2 amps. You'll need a Massoth XL or XLS to be safe.

Thanks - I think the LS is rated at up to 2.5A for peak load, though only 1.5A continuous; probably a bit close to the limits to risk it though, as you say - it'd be a false economy to risk burning out the chip, I guess, when the XLS would give plenty of safety margin. I'd still be very interested to hear the actual current figures in normal use, though.

 

[Dave Hub]

Having seen this loco in the flesh and my 30th being soon (Auguast), I decided to get one of these beasites could not resist when I saw the new blue and beige livery came out.

Was allowed to have a quick test today and for the Science of truly testing I also put a little Schomea next to it. It worked a treat. Looks lovely, if a little big next to my LGB schomea.

Only problem is I made my bridge last year, and upon gauge clearance testing I knocked the smokestack (exhaust) off. Need to take about 5mm off the braces on my bridge.

 

[Cranford]

Cautionary note on chipping, take the cab off and check the space available for the chip you want to fit, it might give the appearance of plenty of space but it is tight in there. The wiring also is a bit of bother, tends to move where you don't want it to when reassembling. It is designed for the Piko chip. Otherwise a great loco have both of 'em.
At £200 squiddish from Dragon G great value .

 

[casey jones snr]

The Blue and Cream V60 locomotive is very attractive. We have one available to us at the CFR with more to come.

 

[Zerogee]

Nice looking loco!

Any idea what sort of current it draws? For chipping one with Massoth rather than Piko, I'm wondering whether an LS would be powerful enough or an XLS would be required?

Not sure. I will have a look at the readouts this weekend.

The Piko standard motor has a potential peak demand of 2 amps. You'll need a Massoth XL or XLS to be safe.

Thanks - I think the LS is rated at up to 2.5A for peak load, though only 1.5A continuous; probably a bit close to the limits to risk it though, as you say - it'd be a false economy to risk burning out the chip, I guess, when the XLS would give plenty of safety margin. I'd still be very interested to hear the actual current figures in normal use, though.

So, has anyone who already has a V60 had a chance yet to look at the actual amps draw in normal running?

Thanks in advance!

 

[casey jones snr]

Yes indeed. These are the average readings taken over a complete weekend.
Locomotive light engine, slow running at 12v 1.5amp. Medium running at 15v still 1.5amp. Fast running at 20v 1.7amp
Locomotive and nine Bogie wagons. slow running at 12v 1.5amp. Medium running at 15v 1.7amp. Fast running at 20v 1.9amp.
Locomotive and twelve Bogie wagons, slow running at 12v 1.7amp. Medium running at 15v 1.9amp.
Locomotive and fifteen Bogie wagons. slow running at 12v 1.8amp. Medium running at 15v 2amp.
The readings were taken from two Maplin Test Bench Controllers.

 

[Zerogee]

Yes indeed. These are the average readings taken over a complete weekend.
Locomotive light engine, slow running at 12v 1.5amp. Medium running at 15v still 1.5amp. Fast running at 20v 1.7amp
Locomotive and nine Bogie wagons. slow running at 12v 1.5amp. Medium running at 15v 1.7amp. Fast running at 20v 1.9amp.
Locomotive and twelve Bogie wagons, slow running at 12v 1.7amp. Medium running at 15v 1.9amp.
Locomotive and fifteen Bogie wagons. slow running at 12v 1.8amp. Medium running at 15v 2amp.
The readings were taken from two Maplin Test Bench Controllers.

Many thanks for your time and trouble, that's really useful - it shows that the V60 will definitely need an XL or XLS... but even with the cost of that, it still means you can have one running DCC with sound for about £360 all-in (if you get loco and chip at a decent price, eg: Jeremy), which is not bad compared with LGB sound-equipped locos!

Tony mentioned possible space issues, though, for non-Piko chips - are both hoods full of weights and stuff? Is there a designated speaker location built in?

Jon.

 

[casey jones snr]

Jon, One of our guys is going to fit sound to his locomotive. I will check with him re space and fitting.