So, I am trying to get my old Lionel “Chessie” locomotive to operate on the layout I just built. I have burnished all track with a track cleaner, and even the old track works fine, with the locomotive running like new. The turnouts, however, are all brand new, yet the locomotive stalls there. They are all getting power, as verified by my meter. I have been cleaning the wheels and track power contacts on the locomotive, but have not seen much improvement. It’s almost like the center contacts need adjustment, but I don’t see any way to do so.
Is it harder for the locomotive contacts to “reach” the center rail on turnouts than on regular track?
Has anyone else experienced this, and how did you conquer it?
Try running it at low speeds over the turnout–in fact, as slow as it can go. When it stops, tilt the loco up so that you can see where the pickup rollers are. That may give some clues. A simpler fix might be this: does the locomotive have pickup rollers for the tender? If so, then run a wire from the tender to the locomotive for additional power.
I had a similar issue to this: on my Menards FP7, the pickup rollers were in the exact same spot as the dead spots on two turnouts. In the end, I wound up replacing the turnouts for a different reason.
You might want to click on the little pencil at the end of the title of this thread and relocate it to the classic TOY trains forum to avoid problems and get better answers.
They obviously aren’t meant to be adjusted, as they are riveted to the bottom of the chassis. If they were screwed on, you could slightly bend them closer to the mounting point. As it is, that would be difficult.
I’d suggest testing the center rollers to make sure they’re picking up power. Turn the engine upside-down (a foam cradle is nice for this, but you can rig something up pretty easily) and connect wires to the transformer. Try connecting one wire to the wheels and the other to each roller one at a time and see if the wheels spin. It could be a wire has come loose to one roller or one set of wheels isn’t getting power.
p.s. if your “old track” is traditional tinplate track, you don’t want to use an abrasive to clean it. Those tracks have a thin coating on them that, if scraped off, can allow the track to rust.
Thanks for responding. The locomotive works perfectly on all track except the turnouts. So, I am sure that the contacts are fully functional. I just don’t understand why they aren’t making contact with the turnouts. It seems like an issue of the gap between the rollers and the track being too big, since it works everywhere else, and since the turnouts all have verified power at the rails.
At the point the engine has stalled, reach in with a long thin insulated ‘tool’ like a skewer and gently press down on each of the contact arms or rollers. Is there a spark or momentary contact?
Just an update. My brand new CW80 transformer poofed today. Puts out 18VAC constantly, even with the throttle off. Lionel is honoring the warranty, but wants to repair and return in 6 to 8 weeks. I’ve only had it for 7 weeks already. I will hook up the backup transformer tomorrow and resume the research.
Personally I like the MTH transformers. I’ve got three Z-1000’s running my layout and everything I’ve got from Post-War up to contemporary runs perfectly with them.
When my Lionel locos have pickup problems, it’s almost always a center rail pickup issue. If you don’t have two rollers working, you are going to have problems. One of my locos has a roller that used to get stuck up off the rail.
So, I think we found the culprit. THanks to all for the debugging ideas. As suggested, I ran the locomotive up to the turnout as slow as possible while maintaining momentum. It stopped precisely at the fork where the locomotive relies totally on the rear pickup. So, I turned it over and applied a moderate amount of voltage (approx. 12v) directly to the pickups, with the locomotive chassis grounded. As expected, the front pickup consistently picked up power for the locomotive, while the rear pickup did so only intermittently. Cleaning time. I’ve tried the non-abrasive methods and even bought the speedi driver cleaner, which failed to operate at all. Anyone with alternative contact cleaning ideas?
Aha! I once had a similar problem with a Dash 8–the rear pickup was also dead. That won’t help us here; the thing was disconnected. My recommendation is that, firstly, you see if there is continuity from the pickup bracket to the positive wire. That will help determine if the pickup itself is a problem or if there is another issue. Since it likely is the pickup, you could try replacing it. I don’t recall if the Lionel Chessie Steam Special used the “push in” pickup rollers that were common in the MPC era, but if so, then they are easy and cheap to replace. Whether that solves your problem or not is the real question… It might be a good idea to “borrow” a pickup roller from another locomotive and see if that fixes the issue before buying new rollers.
You could try spraying some graphite on the pickup roller (I did that once for a defective caboose), but be very careful doing so.
Thanks. Well, there’s no question that there IS connectivity with the back roller, as it does work intermittently. It’s just corrosion. I don’t see how the rollers can be changed without major surgery, but I will investigate that further. If I can’t clean it or replace it, there may be a new trophy on the wall. In a way, I prefer that to be the problem than track issues. Easier to “write the check” for a new loco. There are 9 turnouts on this layout and the problem occurred at each, which in hindsight, is obvious. I just don’t want to go to that much work replacing them in retirement.