Sparks??

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I am new to this hobby, and just wondering why i am getting sparks from my locomotive wheels, is somthing wired wrong? it only moves a few feet than stops i am baffeled, any help with this would be great. Thanks for looking Bear.

2

I see at least three things that cause this.

  1. You may have dirty wheels.

  2. You may have dirty track.

  3. You may not have enough weight for the wheels to fully make the desired contact?

By the way, what brand of loco?

3

my loco is an athearn model 3117 F7A ho scale, it’s, an oldie it was working great on the layout of the guy i bought it from, my track is an ovel with a couple of turnouts

4

How old is old – some really old Athearn locomotives had bad wheels that looked like lead that pitted very easily. If yours are that type, the sparking may be normal because of worn and pitted wheels. The best way to stop it is to put NWSL wheels on the engine, or even some newer Athearn wheels since they now use better metal.

5

I checked the wheels they are the ones you are talking about, are new ones worth the expence or should i just buy a new loco. Thanks Bear

6

Bear,I been using Athearn for 50 plus years…That arching will go away as the wheels wear in…This could take several days to several weeks depending on how much you run your locomotive.

As a ps.

I just notice you wrote:“it only moves a few feet than stops”.

That sounds more like dirty wheels or dirty track then anything…

7

Thanks for the help , i cleaned the wheels and the track no more issues. Thanks again for the advice.Bear.[:)]