Hi all, am having some trouble with my new 4-8-2 light mountain in N-scale and am hoping for some advice or help here, the problem is that the front wheels keep jumping off the rails! it’s almost like there is not enough weight on them to keep them on or? well i really don’t know, it happens on the curves, any body have this problem and whats the fix, thanks.
Well, some years ago I run a ConCor Y6 2-8-8-4 and have the same trouble.
First check the poney wheels to see if they are correct in gauge.
Second check if the support of the wheels is level with the track and that the two wheels touch the rail the same way. To see that I put a piece of track at an eyes level, it’s much easier to see what is wrong.
May be you need to reduce the up and down play of the support of the wheels; with small pieces of styrene it’s an easy thing to correct
To my articulated I was needed to put some wheight on the poney truck. I accomplish that by gluing a small piece of led, cut in form, on the bottom of the poney truck.
With this the loco had ran well and the poney don’t have derail anymore.
Today this loco is out of service on my Maclau River RR and replaced by new more recent model like Bachmann (3 of them) and arriving two Life Like (ordered a few days ago)because now I use DCC control.
To finish check the rail away and away; I N scale a small bump is a mountain for or small locomotives.
Good luck.
There’s been a lot of discussion in the various N scale boards about this loco’s performance issues. In spite of the bad press, I plan to purchase one to convert it into a PRR M1 4-8-2.
One thing you can try is to add a thin washer to lower the pilot truck to lower it; it would have to be very thin. I fear adding a spring would lift the front drivers up.
Another common problem with the engine is that the traction tire driver (third driver) doesn’t contact the rail properly. A 0.005" shim under the bearing block is said to correct the problem. It could be that a similar fix may put enough pressure on the pilot truck to keep it on the rail.
I’ve heard that these engines do better on broader curves. What type of track are you using? What’s your curve radius? Do you use spiral easements (i.e., does the curve begin gradually) or are you using sectional track?
Hi Marc and Dave, thank you both for the replies, was starting to think no one was going to chime in on this one, and since i posted this i have found out that bachmann recommends the wider 19" radius curves for this engine and of course i have mostly the 11 3/4 " curves in E-Z sectional track, although its odd that the bachmann 4-8-4 northern i have runs fine and its a bigger engine so that confuses me some what, and as far as shimming the pony wheels am not sure how that would work, they are atached by an arm with a hole in it to a post near the front driver so they just kind of flop around really loose, might try some weight on them, although i tried just pulling them off and running it that way, it worked on my outer loop but i am still haveing trouble on the inner loop of track, and i will check on the traction tire like you said dave but it looked good to me, you might want to run one before you buy one if you can dave, this thing does not seem to have much pulling power, it seems less to have less then the bachmann 2-8-0 consolidation i have, so again you might try before you buy, other then that its great, nice and qiuet and smooth, so again thanks guys for your input on this.
I got one and though it is a poor runner, it doesn’t have problems staying on the track. I am running some pretty tight coners too (9 3/4 on up). Of course I am using Atlas code 80 track. That bachmann stuff is crap! I suspect something is miss aligned or even one of the axels is bent. If you can’t figure it out, I am sure they will take it back.
Also, mine pulls really well. Perhaps your traction bands are missing from the driver?
Peter
It’s a sad fact on N scale that most steamers need to be “tuned” after purchase. The only one I’ve heard that runs 100% out of the box every time is the Kato 2-8-2. I have one and it’s sweet (I converted it to a PRR class L1s).
My Bachmann Spectrum 2-8-0 (bashed into a PRR H10sb) runs very well too, but I found it has a high start-up voltage. I installed a TCS M1 decoder, but in spite of my reprogramming the CVs to lower the start voltage, it still takes a bit to start. Now, once it’s running, the thing could pull the bumper of you car, and that’s with half the weight removed (to fit a Pennsy boiler)!
Bachmann Spectrum is decent stuff, but always seems like it’s 90% of where it needs to be. One has to tinker to squeeze out that last 10%.
Oh, and if you don’t already have one, get an NMRA N scale Standards Gauge (it looks like this):
Check all the wheels on your loco. If the gauge is wide, often just gently squeezing the wheels a hair is enough to put them back in gauge. Also, check your trackwork. Make sure it’s in gauge. Sectional track is notorious for having gauge issues.
Good luck!