Was down at the LHS yesterday and purchased an Atlas Industrial Rail 4-4-2 steamer (Item #1008003) - Atlas advertises it as a “Traditionally-sized 0/027 Locomotive” and thought that it would work well on my layout (0 tubular track with mostly 42" curves with some 31") and was surprised to find that it hangs up on the 0-31 curves and stalls with the rear driver (which has the traction tire nearly coming off the rail). There is no information on the box or in the literature that the minimum curve is 42" - but that’s what it seems to be.
Has anyone else had a similar experience with this loco? Is there anything that I can do short of replacing the 0-31 curve track sections (which would be a real pain)?
To be fair, this is a very nice loco, but didn’t buy it to display it on a shelf. Checked out Atlas’s web-site and didn’t find any information on it regarding this problem - so thinking that this will probably be my last purchase from Atlas.
The track that Atlas O packs with the set is it’s Industrial Rail Track similar to Lionel’s Fastrack, and like Fastrack this track is 036. When Lionel debuted it’s Hogwart Set, their new engine was built for the newer track and would not negotiate tighter raduis curves like 027 and 031. I wonder if this is the case with these Atlas starter set engines ??? Ken
Industrial Rail makes a minimum radius of O36, while the Atlas track system includes O27, although I can’t recall seeing O27 except on the Atlas web page.
Mike (and Ken), the answer is a mixed YES. The original IR cars were advertised to run on 027 track. The IR cars under Atlas are advertised as “Compatible with all traditionally-sized 3-Rail O/O-27 Trains”. The Atlas website makes clear notice of the “027” though under the website specs on the loco, no minimum track diameter is listed. The loco is advertised as being 027 compatible. And anyone who has seen this loco knows it is absolutely on the smallish side, even for 027.
Going to the IR cars for a moment, you’ll notice the IR box cars have a drop step molded on to the shell of the body that similiar Lionel and K-Line 6464 type box cars do not have. So Industrial Rail mounted the trucks not quite a 1/4 inch further back, also making the coupler shank about 1/4 inch longer. This isn’t too much a problem when running a train forward, but when backing up a train of IR cars on 027 track - especially on an “S” shaped curve, the IR cars constantly derail. The IR cars are nice alright, but obviously some of these companies coming out with new 027 products, need to study some Lionel ones first.
Now Mike, in the case of your steamer, you say “it hangs up on the 0-31 curves and stalls with the rear driver (which has the traction tire nearly coming off the rail).” Is this happening on regular curved track or on a switch track? The reason I ask is that from the pictures I have seen, it appears (and you can confirm) that this loco has one single sprung long arm pick-up on the loco and another pickup on the tender.
That long arm pick up now being used by some companies is absolutely a problem. RMT uses this type of pickup on the BEEP, two of them, facing opposite directions and the BEEP loco constantly shorted out on 027 switches… not stalled but shorted (I know the difference). Ironically the BUDDY, which uses the other shorter arm pickup (similar to what was used by Lionel MPC/LTI) is no trouble at all.
I purchased this engine last summer when they first came out. I ran it on a loop of Gargraves track bent to O-27 radius, with one O-31 Lionel modern-era switch for a siding. It ran fine on this track for over a year with no derailments at all, including the switch. Your engine should run fine on O-31 track.
Check to make sure your front and trailing trucks are moving freely, and make sure the wires for the tether aren’t binding the rear truck. Other than that, I can’t think of anything else that might cause your problem.
Thanks - I checked the front and rear trucks to make sure that they weren’t binding, no problem there, but the problem still occurs. I’m wondering if there might be some difference between the Gargraves track and my 0 tubular track on my layout that could account for the problem.
The loco will go through the curved turnout on a 031 switch without any problems, I’m thinking that the inside guard rail in the 031 switch is keeping the engine from swinging out too much in the curve and will try an inside guard rail on one of my 031 curves to see if that helps - should be able to take an 031 curve sections apart, and bend the rails a bit to form the guard rails.
The loco has a twin arm pickup - it’s a small loco though, and there is only about 2.25" between the rollers. The stalling problem seems more related to the drive wheels than the pickups - in fact when the loco stalls the drive wheels are still turning but just not getting enough of the rail to move forward.
After reading your post, I set up a circle of postwar O-31 Lionel track, found the switcher, and ran it for awhile. All worked fine for me. The drivers all seem to be making good contact with the rails. I hesitate to even bring this up, but is your track, and possibly more important, your traction tire clean? My engine puts out quite a bit of smoke, which tends to make the track dirty, and the tire slippery. Last thing I can think of. Since you bought the engine recently, I would call Atlas and see what they think.