Running in new locos

[Wingman mothergoose]

What is the best method of running in new locos? I've recently bought a new Farish class 20 and a Dapol B1, I followed the running in instructions on the 20, it runs ok, lovely at low speed, but the top speed isn't that great, and it's a bit noisy. The B1 instructions said it didn't need any running in or lubricating, but I did both anyway, and that runs fine.
What are your experiences with running in new locos?

[scotsoft]

A few members have built themselves a figure of eight track for running in as this means the loco goes round left and right hand curves.

Some locos will take longer to run in than others, sometimes up to a few hours before they quieten down, so just let them run whilst you are doing something else and hopefully before you know it they will be running smoothly.

cheers John.

[Jack]

Regarding "top speed", not all locos will run at the same speed when the controller is set at a full for example.

For instance; in the days when I used to have Dapol locos my Class 58 couldn't run as fast has my HST. When I queried this on a different forum  I was told that manufacturers are gearing their newer models more appropriately to the type of loco.

If you were to check the scale running speeds of your locomotives using such programmes as this;
http://www.mcr5.org/NMRA/articals/speed.htm you may find that, like many a modeller, you're been running your locomotives a bit to fast for the scale.

[jonclox]

I`m running all my DCC ready locos in before I chip them and change the layout to DCC.
So far Ive only had 1 loco that failed.
A Dapol ND-120F which seized up after about 10 minutes mid speed running. 
I think its well worth running any loco in to a certain extent and its best done via DC if its possible.

[Newportnobby]

OK - from the start.......
If it's a steamer, I always lubricate the valve motion whether it says to or not.
I then run the loco in one direction for 15 minutes at a speed beyond which I will use it at, but not top speed Then I reverse run it for another 15 minutes.
Remove loco from track, turn it 180 degrees and then repeat the running cycle.
That way it gets a full hour and travelling in all possible directions.
I always try to ensure the running in involves travelling over the track/points it will be used on rather than just an oval of track - it's strange what can happen to locos when they encounter points