I have two first generation Heislers and two new models. They are all great runners, but the problem with the first generation engines  was electrical pick-up. On these engines each truck was assigned a rail. Because of the short truck wheelbase they would often hesitate or stall on frogs. I tried insulating pick-ups on the opposing side of the truck and this improved performance, but there was still a tendency to stall. To solve the problem I added pick-ups and a water tank to 30' flat cars. Connection to the engines is via TCS two wire miniature connectors. Adding the water cars fits with the logging theme of the layout.

The performance of both first generation engines is now almost as good as the new Heislers.

Roy