Well, I just set world record, a personal best, for times around the 8’ x 8’ test track oval with my American Flyer steam engine.
I had replaced the two upper and lower finger boards on the reversing unit, cleaned the track rails, and more firmly secured the sectional track connections.
The sudden stopping of the engine is becoming far less frequent. Even without stopping, however, I do notice an intermittent clicking sound coming from the reversing unit as if the unit is about to cycle from forward to neutral. I still have the tender shell removed so perhaps the clicking sound is more noticeable. What is causing this intermittent clicking? Is it normal or is it an ever so temporary loss of power?
Also, whether related or not to the intermittent clicking sound, I still get occasional, unexpected stalls and usually, but not always, at the same spot on the track. Typically, when I then press the Reset button on the transformer, the engine proceeds to move forward once again, but sometimes, the reversing unit cycles to neutral, then backwards as I continue to press the Reset button. Continued pressing of the Reset button will get the unit to cycle to forward in those instances. Do I still have a reversing unit problem of some type (such as the finger contact on the drum)? Or, is it an electrical continuity problem on the tracks?
I may have to start paying you a commission for all of this good advice.
I went down to the basement and got up real close to the track and observed that a few curved sections of track were a little warped. By holding both ends of the track, I was able to gently bend these sections back to a straight unwarped position. I also replaced some more track pins and pushed the track pins out laterally, as you suggested. That pretty much eliminated any stalls and significantly reduced the intermittent clicking of
You’re welcome and I’m glad you were able to get to the bottom of it. Now, on to your second concern. Yes, it does make sense, Rich. I had a loco with a similar problem and it turned out that one of the reverse unit fingers was not making consistently solid contact with the drum. As someone else pointed out on this forum, it could be that the little tabs holding the finger board in place need tweaked to tighten them a bit. Be careful. I have broken off tabs and have broken finger boards. Otherwise, it could be that you will have to re-bend the finger slightly so that it makes solid - but not too solid - contact with the drum. Even before you examine for that, look at something else. Sometimes reverse units just don’t cycle properly and it can be due to several reasons. Make sure all of the metal parts are clean. Do not oil any pivot points. I know this sounds counter-intuitive, but oil attracts dust and that - in time - inhibits the mechanical action of the device. The best-working reverse unit is a clean reverse unit. Sometimes the reverse unit arm does not fall back down to where it ought to be and that can be because of dirt or something else that a lot of repair guys can not agree upon. Some say the plate gets slightly magnetized from 60+ years of use - especially if run on DC voltage. Others say that is nonsense because of the extremely high quality of steel that was used back then. At any rate, observe your reverse unit in action with the tender shell off and if the reverse unit does not seat itself properly every time, then there is a work-around for that as well. Please let us know and we can go from there. I don’t think it’s simply a case of a loose wire, although I have seen wires that have broken inside the insulation and you just can’t tell unless you take the wire off and do a continuity check. That is rare, though so let’s not go