Hi all!
Today my new Lionel Hogwarts Express train came in the mail! Being a huge Harry Potter fan, as well as a Lionel fan, you can assume how excited I was.
Anyway, upon opening the box and removing the train (very carefully!) I placed the engine and cars on the loop of track already set up around my Christmas tree (Fastrack, 0-36 curves-same as what came with the set).
However, rather than the smooth operation I was expecting, the engine took off in a very jerky manner and derailed on the first curve it came too. I found this odd as I wasnt running at a high speed. Upon removing all cars and the tender, I watched the loco carefully. The operation of it is very Jerky, and the jerkiness is more noticeable at slower speeds. It also has issues going around the curves. Sometimes it will de-rail, other times it slows to a crawl, but sometimes it runs through just fine. It also has a tendancy to “waddle” slightly, which leads me to assume if its a problem with the running gear it may be just on one side.
As we speak I am “running in” the engine and tender. It has been running forward at the 60 notch on the CW-80 (I’m using the one from the set. I have one from a few years ago that was used until this morning). As I have been typing the engine has derailed on the curves twice, but otherwise has remained on the rails. Soon I will reverse it and run it backwards for a while.
I bought the set from a well known train dealer on ebay, brand new. I wanted to ask if anyone has had problems like this with their Hogwarts Express trains before I shoot off an email to the seller.
Also one more thing. On one side of the locomotive there is a piece attached to the valve gear with slides along the frame of the engine. I assume it’s a guide of sorts. There isn’t one on the other side of the engine, however nothing seems to be broken off. Is this the same with others trains?
Oh, another thing. I have not yet run the train on the track that came with the set. I