Rokuhan Track

Very new to the hobby, has an impressive line of track that is snap together track/roadbed combination. The following are some observations I had to learn the hard way, or information that was missing or incorrect on the web.

Rokuhan rerailer

They make a small rerailer. As compared to the MT rerailer, it has a lower height, which means a less abrupt angle to the track. This helps allow locos like MT locos with snowplows to be rerailed.

It's also less expensive.

Unfortunately, it fits very poorly to the track, when the locos and cars load. The business end between the rails is too narrow, and does not center itself between the rails. The result is it does not always work. I cannot see why it had to be made this way, since the distance between the rails is a standard.

The result is you must take care to center the "business end" between the rails or it won't work. It's just plain silly. I only keep mine to show people how a simple product can still be designed wrong.

Turnout control

Rokuhan makes electrically powered turnouts, but they don't make it easy to understand how they work or what voltage or anything about them. The manual that comes with it, besides being in the typical Rokuhan microscopic text size, says nothing.

Even worse, some experts and even some dealers have the wrong information.

Answer: These are momentary only switches that operate on 6 volts DC and you reverse the polarity to change the direction. Did I say MOMENTARY? The "motor" is very small and you can overheat it easily. Don't "play" with them continuously. At 6 volts, the steady state current is 0.3 amp, it goes up to 0.5 amp at 10 volts, which some people recommend. Don't do it. Use 6 volts and use short pulses and don't operate a lot without allowing to cool.

Rokuhan test figure 8 track:

I wanted to make a good test track for breaking in locos.

One thing I noticed is that most people use a loop. Watching a lot of locos at my friend's loop, I noticed many locos had problems on the curves not the straights, and sometimes it was a wire not making contact, torque that pulled on pickups/wipers, etc.

I also noticed that some locos ran fine on a right hand turn but if I turned the loco around on the same loop and it ran poorly.

Lastly, I thought, some of the break-in period on a loco is "scuffing" the surface of the wheels.

So, it dawned on me that the best "equalizer" was a figure 8 layout, not a simple loop. This would excercise left and right and equalize the wear.

I decided to try to use Rokuhan to make it simple and they announced a 90° crossing.

I also decided to use the largest (except for the 490mm radius) curve so the test track would work for Big Boys.

Parts list:

1 pack - R025 - 90 degree crossing

3 packs - R015 - 270mm radius, 30 degree. (packs of 6 pieces). Each pack of 6 is 180, so a pack and a half is 270 degrees, need that for each "loop"

1 pack - R009 - 220 mm straight pack of 4

1 pack - R008 - 55mm straight pack of 4

Now I'm still short and figuring out how to make up the remaining straights without cutting.

Hey! There was a little sheet of paper in the 90 degree crossing box! There is a list of what straights are needed to make a figure 8 track for a bunch of radii. I'll  list them here so as to save others time:

R270 - 220mm and 55 mm
R245 - 220mm and 25mm
R220 - 220mm
R195 - 110mm and 55mm and 25mm
R170 - 110mm and 55mm
R145 - 110mm and 25mm
R120 - 110mm
R95  - 55mm and 25mm
R70 - 55mm

Thanks Rokuhan!

Below is a picture of the completed test/breakin track.

Track parts list

R001 - 110mm straight - pack of 4 - brown wood ties, with power slot

R002 - 195mm radius, 45° - pack of 4 - brown wood ties

R003 - 170mm radius, 45° - pack of 4 - brown wood ties

R004 - 220mm radius, 45° - pack of 4 - brown wood ties

R005 - 145mm radius, 45° - pack of 4  - brown wood ties

R006 - remote control switch left - discontinued

R007 - remote control switch right - discontinued

R008 - 55mm straight - brown wood ties - discontinued did not have power slot

R009 - 220mm straight - pack of 4 - brown wood ties, with power slot

R010 - 95mm radius, 45° - pack of 4 - brown wood ties

R011 - 120mm radius, 45° - pack of 4 - brown wood ties

R012 - 490mm radius, 13° - pack of 2 - brown wood ties

R013 - bumper - pack of 2 - brown wood ties, looks ok for america if you take off the upright target

R014 - 245mm radius, 30° - pack of 6 - brown wood ties

R015 - 270mm radius, 30° - pack of 6 - brown wood ties

R016 - 330mm flex -  pack of 1 - brown wood ties

R017

R018 - 70mm radius, 45° - pack of 4 - brown wood ties

R019 - 127mm radius, 26° - pack of 2 - brown wood ties... wonder if it is a parallel adapter

R020 - 13deg crossing with 2 53.6mm pieces - brown wood ties

R021 - briefcase track set

R022 - 55mm remote turnout - left - with 55mm trimmed trace - brown wood ties - ### what is the degree of divergence

R023 - 55 mm remote turnout - right - with 55mm trimmed trace - brown wood ties

R024 - 55mm straight - pack of 2 - brown wood ties, with power slot

R025 - 90° crossing - 25mm long on each side - pack of 1 - brown wood ties

R026 - left curved turnout r220 / r195 with r195 30 degree trimmed track

R027 - right curved turnout r220 / r195 with r195 30 degree trimmed track

R028 - oval track set - brown wood ties - 8 pieces 195mm 45 degree, 4 pieces 100mm straight

R029 - european or japanese bumper - pack of 2 - brown wood ties

R030 - 25mm straight - pack of 4 - brown wood ties

R031 - adjustable straight  track - pack of 1 - brown wood ties - 100-120mm

R032 - 195mm radius 30° - pack of 6 - brown wood ties

R033 - 220 mm radius, 30 - pack of 6 -  brown wood ties seems current

R034 - 220 mm radius 30° - brown wood ties #### see r033??

R035

R036

R037 - 55 mm straight magnetic uncoupler track - brown wood ties, MT uncoupler

R038

R039 - left hand 110mm turnout with 110mm trimmed straight - brown wood ties - replaces  r006 13 degree

R040 - right hand 110mm turnout with 110mm trimmed straight - brown wood ties - replaces r007 13 degree

R041 - 220mm bridge - green

R042 - 22mm bridge - red

R043 - 220mm bridge - double track - green

R044 - 220mm bridge - double track - beige

R045 - 110mm straight - no roadbed - pack of 2 - for bridges - brown wood ties

R046 - 45mm radius, 45°  - pack of 4 - brown wood ties

R047 - siding set - 2 switches,  2 notched 110mm straight and 2 490mm parallel adapter tracks

R048

R049 - 110mm straight - pack of 4 -concrete ties

R050 - 220mm straight - pack of 4 - concrete ties

R051 - 195mm radius 30° - pack of 6 - concrete ties

R052 - 220mm radius 30° - pack of 6 - concrete ties

R053 - 245mm radius, 30° - pack of 6 - concrete ties

R054 - 270mm radius, 30° - pack of 6 - concrete ties

R055 - left hand 110mm  turnout with 110mm straight cut track - concrete ties - 13 degrees

R056 - right hand 110mm  turnout with 110mm straight cut track - concrete ties - 13 degrees

R057 - left hand 220/195mm curved turnout  with 195mm trimmed - concrete ties

R058 - right hand  220/195mm curved turnout 195mm trimmed- concrete ties

R059 -490mm radius, 13° - pack of 2 - concrete ties

R060 - 220mm double track bridge - brown

R061 - 220 mm bridge - brown

R062 - rail set double oval

R063

R064 - 195mm radius,  30° - pack of 6 - wood - superelevated

R065 - 220mm radius, 30° - pack of 6 - wood- superelevated

R066 - 195mm radius,30° - pack of 6 - concrete- superelevated

R067  - 220mm radius 30° - pack of 6 - concrete- superelevated

R070 - 110mm deck girder bridge includes 110mm track w/o roadbed - don't know color yet red, green, black

R071 - 110mm deck girder bridge includes 110mm track w/o roadbed- don't know color yet - release in May 2014

R072 - 110mm deck girder bridge includes 110mm track w/o roadbed- don't know color yet

s030 - briefcase layout a - preformed base with hill, graded track base and tunnel that allows for the over-under design

s031 - briefcase layout b - flat base that allows freestyle track plan

A008 - narrow feeder cable (narrow meaning you can use one on double track spacing?

A013 - 2 insulating joiners, one of them insulates both rails.