I find the leading and trailing trucks on the Grizzly Northern’s latest acquisition, a Spectrum 2-10-2, a little bit skittish on the tracks and prone to derail on rough trackwork.
I’m looking at ways to add weight to each and/or to fit a spring to help them stay on the track. Space at the front truck is limited, not so at the rear truck.
I’m interested in hearing of solutions others have tried.
Thanks, as always!
[:)]
If possible, use weight rather than springs. Stiff springs on trucks will reduce the haulage capacity of the loco as they’ll lift the drivers off the rails, as well as potentially causing more derailments. Also worth checking that the wheelsets are in gauge, as that can be a problem on some Bachmann steamers.
I had the exact same problem with my newly acquired IHC 2-10-2 – my initial inclination was to do something to the leading truck. As soon as I fixed the bad track work the problem went away.
IMHO, modifying the loco (other than adjusting wheel gauge) may cause more problems than it fixes. I can run it flat out it now and it stays on the tracks like glue.