I have eleven Rapido passenger cars. These do not seem to roll very well compared to all my freight cars. Is it normal for passenger cars to not roll as well? I have a 30’ long 2% down hill stretch that if I let any of my freight cars go, they are doing warp speed by the time they get to get to the bottom. My rapido cars roll very slowly all the way down and sometimes stop. My three new baggage cars will not roll down at all on their own. Any suggestions as to how I can get them rolling better? Thanks.
Adjusting, perhaps cleaning, and lubing the axle retentive devices, the side frame, would go a huge way toward improved rolling performance. This is also true for the Walther heavyweights in my experience.
My Walthers Super Chief cars rolled decently out of the box while my BLI CZ cars seemingly came with the handbrakes applied. BLI said any conducting lubricant would be okay - and Atlas makes a product called Conducta-Lube.
Apparently the stamped metal frames that contact the axles for electrical pickup are the culprit and may require adjustment. Interestingly, my Kato office cars have the same pickup design and roll very, very well.
Thanks for the suggestions. When I turn the cars over the wheels spin well, but they are slugs on the rails. Would Labelle oil or Lithium grease be a good choice? Thanks.
It couldn’t hurt to use a ‘dry’ graphite lube first. I use ATF for all my exterior lubing, and it seems to be okay, but the general consensus is that liquid lubes can attact unwanted ‘stuff’’ into the journals over time, pretty much guaranteeing a slow future again and more maintenance.