I just put up my Christmas tree and of course I also put up my 1934 (?) 400E standard gauge freight set which still runs great. However I thought it would also be nice if I also put up my new Lionel Hogwarts express. I have to say I am extremely disappointed. The price was right and it looks nice, but the set runs poorly for me. I am using the track that came with the unit, but it cant seem to get around the oval twice without falling over! It appears to be a design problem in that the center of gravity is too high and the least bit of sway or rougness on the track causes it to fall over. I can just see all the ids at Christmas trying to get it to go around the curve!!! Has anyone else expreienced this issue? I think I will take the Express off and put up my Coors set!
Although I have been collecting trains for 30 years and have some 40 engines (or so) I am new to this forum I looked for the “Hogwarts Express, by Semaphore” article but couldnt find it. Is there a easier way to search?
What track are you running on? And what do you mean by uneven? FastTrack only locks when it’s set up on a flat surface. I’ve run the HE on the O-36 track that comes with the set with no problems. It looks and runs better on wider radius track. I’ve got mine running on O-72.
The HWX is designed for 036 track or larger. Maybe with the track on the floor(?)it is not level and the lean on the curves is enough to tip the engine. I’m guessing here, but I too have the set running on wider curves and it has run flawlessly so far.
“I am using the track that came with the unit, but it cant seem to get around the oval twice without falling over! It appears to be a design problem in that the center of gravity is too high and the least bit of sway or rougness on the track causes it to fall over.”
This just doesn’t make sense to me. FasTrack, even when laid on my wife’s quilted Christmas Tree skirt is super-smooth. The HogWarts 4-6-0 is low-geared and stable. I’ve even tried running it at full-open throttle, and it still stay on the rails.
Something is wrong here. Perhaps the valve hanger got bent coming out of the box?
We did have one that the pilot didn’t have enough down force. A little, don’t remember if it was a bend or spring strech, it was with the preview set a few months back, solved the problem.
What exactly is falling over? Cars, Loco, Everything?
Is this when you run it flat out? Or even at low speeds?
When my set arrived, each car had at least one roller plate pickup popped out of place. I suppose if it were put on the tracks like this, the pickups could make the car unstable… Just a thought.
This doesnt sound right to me. The train is NOT top heavy and mine wont go fast enough to derail anyway, even after being given a tune-up. I’ve run it on tubular as well as FasTrack with no problems, through switches, forwards and backwards and it tracks really well. Somethings very wrong with yours, I cant imagine what, maybe the truck is fouling the cylinders?
Another way to find articles by a certain user is to do a search. Then on the next screen click on “advanced search” or “more search options”.
You can also click on “selected forums”, “classic toy trains” only.
Paste the users name into the username box (second box). I would start with nothing in the text box (first box) unless I got too many hits. Then I might add a little text. If you do not get the item you are looking for in any search always reduce the number of criteria. Like just Hogwart (not Hogwarts or Hogwart’s), Hog, Potter, or blank.
Well, just to confirm the echo: I’ve been running mine since Thanksgiving and it’s never come close to tipping. On the first night I revved it up to full steam on the 036 loop that it came with to see if it was kid friendly and it was solid. Something definitely odd here. However, as I noted in another thread, this fastrack is different than all my other fastrack. Seems a little cheaper and less rugged. But, as I said, it handled just fine.
