I was trying out a couple of Kato N scale SD40-2 on on some temporary Kato Unitrack. I have a lot of wires temporarily sticking out from under the plastic roadbed as I’m not yet ready to drop them through the foam to the bus.
These 6-axel locos tend to stop or hesitate anywhere the track is not dead level (due to the protruding wires at turnouts and track feeders). Is this normal? Do the 6-axel diesels tend to do this and need perfectly level track? My 4-axel locos run just fine at these same spots.
I realize that things should run better when I get everything finalized and level, but If I still have any of these problems is there anything I can do to make the SD40-2 run smoother?
I haven’t had this problem with these models, but here’s a suggestion…make sure the contacts by the wheels and the strip that transfers the electricity through the frame are lined up, if it’s off even slightly I have found it can result in a few problems. It’s hard to describe but when you see how everything comes together you will know what I mean. Things are always more difficult in N scale.
I own 2 N scale Kato SD40-2’s both which ran well for a good while and then one of them started hesitiating ever so slightly in certain areas on my layout where the track was not perfectly level. Similar to your experience my 4 axle diesels had no problem with these areas either. It turned out that either thru vibration or who knows what these contacts were not lined up on the wheels properly on the left side of the front trucks and after adjustment the engine ran and continues to run like new.