Alright here’s my topic which I mentioned in my last post about dirty tracks and DCC. I’ve got a long heavy coal train which takes three locomotives to pull it up the grade. I have the DCC settings in the locomotives set so that they stay strong out while running instead of bunched up rubbing against eachother causing for poor operation and the loss of MU cables. They are three Tower 55 ES44ACs. I like to run them so that the leader is forward and the two others are facing backward. The thing is one of them going backward vs one going forward, no matter what locomotive it is, you can switch the two around, the one going backward is always faster. So I set the lead locomotive so that it starts moving a little before the other two therefore eliminating the accordion effect. However the lead locomotive is always picking up dirt on its wheels no matter how clean I think the track is. I have to clean its wheels a lot which isn’t very enjoyable. Maybe it’s because its spinning its wheels trying to pull the other two and the train. There isn’t much of a difference between them just one digit on the start up voltage. What do you guys think might be the problem?
Here’s what I use to keep my loco wheels clean.
ATHEARN IRON WHEELS in BB items are notorious for ‘arcing’. Replace with Nickel silver or brass, and keep track clean with alcohol and a rag.
ALTERNATIVE: TWO track cleaning cars from Tony’s (wet dry).
RE MULTIPLE ENGINES: MOST model engines run differently in one direction than the other. If your CV’s can’t correct, run all in forward position. More important, keep couplers ‘pulling’ so they don’t unhook.
Any time I take a locomotive off the layout for an extended period, I clean the wheels. That way it’s ready-to-roll when I put it back in service.
I have been using the Kadee driver cleaner for probably as long as they have been on the market. At the same time that I am knocking off the harder grunge with the Kadee on one axle, I use a pointed cotton swab (available at Wal-Mart) dipped inisopropyl alcohol to clean the spinning treads on the other wheels. Between the Kadee and the cotton swab, it’s impossible to see any dirt that’s left.
For whatever reason, the wheel treads on my rolling stock never get dirty (I use metal wheel sets).
John Timm