# Looks like Piko has finally gotten around to making a box car that looks actuality German for G Scale .



## John Galt Line (Dec 12, 2012)

*Looks like Piko has finally gotten around to making a box car that looks actuality German for G Scale .*

I am expecting one shortly, has any one else bought one. If so how is it?


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## BigRedOne (Dec 13, 2012)

*RE: Looks like Piko has finally gotten around to making a box car that looks actuality German for G Scale .*

Sorry it's not an answer to your question, but is that the Piko crocodile locomotive in your photo? If you have one, how do you like it?


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## John Galt Line (Dec 12, 2012)

*RE: Looks like Piko has finally gotten around to making a box car that looks actuality German for G Scale .*

Hi,
I do have one, for the price it's not a bad choice. The detail is decent, and the pulling power is good . The build quality for the shell, and the frame is OK. The power trucks are odd.
The prototype is Co-Co, but the model is Bo+1-1+Bo and each of the truck is articulated in addition to the three sections body like the prototype is. The front two axles are driven, and the 3rd is not driven and is set up on a pivot. ( Like the trailing axle under the fire box/ cab on a steam loco) the way Piko set-up the attachment and articulation with the body/ frame sections is unique to say the least. ( sprung to be some what self centering, the springiness can and does cause issues in tight radius switches and cross-overs) 
I converted mine to use CVP Air-Wire battery power; and had a few" WTF, how/why did Piko do that?!" moments. If you buy one and disassemble the model to do any battery, or DCC conversion work you will see what I mean... 
Other than at whole mess I most likely caused (see below), the loco works well. And for the price vs. quality, I would get a second one if I was in the market to do so. ( especially considering that if LGB made one it would be 2-3 thousand dollars or more vs. 450.00 I paid for mine.) 
The one problem I had ( and I may have helped contribute to it when I did the conversion.) is that the loco when going down grade it lurches and bucks a lot. loco works great going up hill and on mostly level track. 
When I did the conversion; I had to take the motor block apart to solder leads to the motor terminals. When I did this, I noticed that there seemed to be way more grease on the gears, and axle bearings. I removed what I thought was excess grease. ( I put what I thought to be correct amount back in when I reassembled the motor blocks.) 
After many different approaches to trying to fix the lurching ( re-setting CV on the decoder, rewiring the motors, lights and battery, completely dissembling and reassembling the loco several times( I found that I may have over tightened some screws in the articulated assemblies in the initial and some subsequent reassembling. Which lead to jumping/ climbing over rails in tight curves and cross-over switches. I fixed that, my fault.) But the lurching while going down grade was still there. So I called Piko and asked them; the lady I spoke with asked if had put all the grease back in the trucks when I was done. ( I had explained the whole battery power conversion process to her; and told her about all the grease I found in the trucks etc...) 
I re-greased the gears and axles and ran the loco with out cars for 30 min. at med speed in both directions like she said to. And well what do you know the lurching was for the most part gone. ( except at very low shunting speeds moving down grade.) 
If you have any other questions let me know.I will once I receive the Piko cars I will do a review of them.


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## Michael W (Oct 10, 2012)

*RE: Looks like Piko has finally gotten around to making a box car that looks actuality German for G Scale .*

Mhh nice to get some feedback of the piko engines, I started g a few month ago and got a piko set and now a br 218, but all reviws i read were sort of inconclusive regarding the quality of the overall product. I noticed the br 80 and the 218 were rather loud for a shrt while but smoothed out nicely afterwards. Have you gt any expirience with the piko locos regarding long term use?
Kind regards michael


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## John Galt Line (Dec 12, 2012)

*RE: Looks like Piko has finally gotten around to making a box car that looks actuality German for G Scale .*

Mike, 

I have: 
BR80, BR218, BR194, BR260,and the Taurus (OBB) 

The 218 and the 260 are by far the better of the Piko loco I have. The 260 is the best one they have made. It's pretty quiet, and runs like a top. One thing that Piko could do to make it better would metal side rods and not the chintzy plastic like on the BR80. 

The 218 is great heavy hauler, but you are right that it is a touch on the noisy side. I have had mine for over a year now and I have found that if you run it medium speed on a simple oval for about 30 min. each direction it will quiet down some what. The gears need to set and the factory “lube” needs to be distributed around in the gearboxes. 

As for the br80 and the br194; 
The br80 is just “OK” the plastic side rods really make it look cheap... 
it runs alright, but has a low pulling capacity. And mine squeaks as it runs. 

The BR194 you know the more I look at the inside of the model the more I admire the engineering tenacity of Piko to produce a model that is over 600mm long and goes around a 600mm curve. As long as it is level and there are no sudden changes in track geometry; like S-Curves or tight radius scissors switches... and you go slow. 

The Taurus is like the 218 runs well, just a little on the noisy side. 

I really feel that if Piko would just invest in higher quality motors and gearing in the power trucks; most of the complaining about their stuff would evaporate. 
Just keep in mind that if LGB ( hmm Marklin) made the 218; the quality would be better, but the price would be in the $800-$1200 range easy, same for all of the other Piko items. ( I shudder to think what LGB would ask for the BR194....$2000-$3000 range, granted it would run much better.) 

bye, 
ss


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## Michael W (Oct 10, 2012)

*RE: Looks like Piko has finally gotten around to making a box car that looks actuality German for G Scale .*

thank you for the feedback, I agree fully with your assesment regarding the plastic on the br 80. I did start to use some paint on mine as a test run, adding the red stripes inside improved the looks tremendously, the acrylic seems to hold up well, so as soon as I get some spare time I will disassemble the gearing and undercoat it with black primer and then paint properly it, i am thinking of drybrushing metal/ silver then the red coloring and then some ink and washes for oil and rust.

I was overall more concerened about the longlivety of the locos, I read some artiles about poor drivetrains however, I read nothing about write offs, and giving the motors cost around $50 I am not too concerened, apart from that I belive i can source better motor via electronic supplies.

Apart from those concerns i like Pikos price / quality ratio. The models need some touching up work but that is easy done with some paint.
Given the Locos are 1/3 price of what lgb is I am happy to replace the odd engine if it should happen...

Kind regards Michael


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