I am assuming my problem is resulting from loose rail joiners, causing spotty electrical stability.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
could also bee dirty track (especially if ALL locomotives exhibit that behavior), or bad contact somewhere in the locomotive (if only one does). The easiest fix is thoroughly cleaning the track . . I would try that first.
Brand new track and loco, I have cleaned it with 70% alcohol both track and wheels ( by putting alcohol on a paper towel and setting it on the track holding the loco while running it on it).
darth
If it is EZ Track run your loco as slow as you can, it should stop where you say it is stuttering. At that point start with the closest rail joiners and either push or lift the track a little. If the loco starts to move squeeze that rail joiner tighter, if it does not move proceed to next joiner till you find the problem. I had the same problem and found one joiner loose 2 ft. away from where it stopped.
Hope this helps
Jerry
It is atlas track code 55 though I imagine the same thing would work. This is pretty much what I figured, though I wondered if it would be better to solder the joiners as opposed to crimping them some?
What engine? It matters with C55. If the flanges are oversized it will do exactly as you describe.
Quote from: skipgear on February 15, 2012, 10:02:31 PM
What engine? It matters with C55. If the flanges are oversized it will do exactly as you describe.
exactly what I was thinking, trains flanges runs on trackbed and loses full contact with the rails - result power/no-power etc.
As much as code55 looks more realistic it can cause various problems that you have to be aware of...
Have you got any regular code80 track? run the train on that and if the problem goes away - well its not the train intself, its the wheels needing to be "code55 friendly"..
it is a Bachmann 2-6-2 and as I watch it it does not hit the trackbed. If I speed it up it will make it around the track with just light stutters.
http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/products.php?act=viewProd&productId=804
The wiper springs on the drawbar have come unsoldered and the tender is not helping with pickup. The wires are not maintaining tension. Pull the tender drawbar off and hit the two little feeler wires with a little solder where they are attached to the drawbar, making sure that they are pointed together slightly to add some more spring tension to them when connected to the loco.
it appears to be tight here but I will add some solder to be sure. That won't void my warranty will it?
If the drawbar is OK, it just may need some run time. I don't consider performance on steam loco until an hour or better break in time. If it doesn't clear up by that amount of running, then I start tinkering.
Total run time has been maybe 15 mins. it was stuttering so I assumed I had an electrical stability issue and stopped it. If it was HO I would have just soldered it first but this is a bit more daunting on N.
I also have a Bachmann 2-6-2, and run it on Kato unitrack. It stalls on the 15 degree crossing. At the suggestion of a power user on the Whistle Post website forum, I added track feeders to all arms of the crossing. My Atlas GP30 crosses over without hesitation, but my 2-6-2 stalls every time. I don't understand the suggestions above, regarding enhancing the pickup ability of the locomotive. As info, my locomotive was bought new, in its original box, item no.51551, UP #1836.
Thanks,
Jim
I understand from other posts that the slope-back tender would fit the 2-6-2 and has pick-up on both trucks? Are there any modifications needed to fit this tender to the 2-6-2?
I just spoke with Bachmann Parts Dept who spoke with the technicians regarding the 2-6-2 tender and inadequate pickup. They advised that this was the design and it should be sufficient to have the tender pick up current from the front truck alone. So, as we know, this is not always the case.
He also advised that the slope back tender has the same design and only has pickup from the front truck.
After reading a number of posts on the subject, I'm not sure about my next step.
1) Is there a way to enhance the eectrical pickup of the 2-6-2 and Medium tender as is?
2) What can I do to ensure that the drawbar is correctly picking up the electricity from the front tender truck? It appears from a previous post in the forum, that there is a solder joint on the drawbar - I see that. This join is on the top of the drawbar and the whiskers are on the bottom.
Sorry if these questions have been answered before - I'm not knowledgeable about locomotives and pickups, etc.
Thanks,
Jim
The tender that comes with both the 0-6-0 and the 2-6-2 do not have all wheel power pickup. In addition they have a high rolling resistance, limiting what these engines can pull. Both of these engines can be improved significantly by purchasing a Bachmann Spectrum tender, either the slope back for the 0-6-0 or short range for the 2-6-2. With the addition of the Spectrum tender stalling problems with these little engines usually disappear and they can pull more cars as well. Both of these engines, if they are the newer model in the plastic jewel case, can be great runners with the Spectrum tender. It is too bad Bachmann continues to sell them with the cheaper tender. A new Spectrum tender can usually be purchase on the auction site from everyone's favorite spot for less than $10. These little engines are a real bargain. Have fun, Mark.
Thanks Mark. I ordered one and it is on the way. I also ordered Addendum 2011 from NTrak which has an article on how to hook up the new tender to ensure that both truck pickups are utilized effectively by the loco.
As I mentioned earlier, last week I called Bachmann just to confirm the pickup issue, and they didn't know and couldn't help me. Maybe I asked the wrong question.
Oh well, I sure do appreciate all of the assistance I receive on this Forum. You folks are great! Thanks,
Jim
Quote from: greeneri on January 12, 2017, 11:48:00 AM
my 2-6-2 was running great last week. now it stutters when going forward; but runs fine in reverse.
Miranda's Maxim as explained by ke applies here: "The poor performance of many N scale steam locomotives is almost always attributable to poor electrical contact".
I am assuming that you have a recent version.
That locomotive has a front tender truck that is live, a drawbar that conducts electricity and a split contact post on the locomotive.
Turn the tender sideways so that the drawbar will come off the locomotive. Make sure that the contact posts on the locomotive are clean. I suspect that your problem may not be there, as the thing will operate in reverse. Still, while you are at it, it does not hurt to make sure that the posts are clean.
Next, turn your attention to the drawbar. On the latest version, there are two stiff wires soldered to foil on the drawbar. In order to carry out this part of the fix, you may have to remove the drawbar from the tender. To do this, you must unscrew the screw that holds in the front tender truck. Take note of how the parts sit, as you must
re-assemble in the same way as you disassemble. Once you have the drawbar out, make sure that the stiff wires are clean.
YOU MUST CARRY OUT THE NEXT STEPS WITH UTMOST CARE.
The solder joints on the drawbar are EXTREMELY DELICATE and will break off easily. What I often do is to hold them in a small to average sized pair of needlenose pliers, taking care not to clamp down too hard but hard enough to hold the wires. Make sure that the stiff wires are clean. You can file them, sand them (sanding sticks work well), even Life Like track cleaner might work, although I have yet to try that on B-mann drawbars. Next, you want to make sure that the contact at the split post on the locomotive is good. You pinch in the stiff wires. DO THIS
VERY CAREFULLY. The solder joint on the stiff wires is extremely delicate and breaks easily.
Finally, turn your attention to the front truck. There are contact tabs along the top edge of the wheel wipers. In fact, when you pull off the front tender truck, take care that the contact wipers on the wheels do not pop out of place. Make sure that the tabs are clean and bend them up slightly so that they will contact the foil on the drawbar properly.
Now, lay the drawbar onto the front bolster on the tender. Then put back the front truck, taking care that the wipers do not pop out of the wheels. Finally, screw back the screw and put the drawbar back onto the contact post.
After all that, I must tell you that there is a better solution. If you will purchase a B-mann
SPECTRUM USRA short tender, it will fit this locomotive, with a minimum amount of work. The advantage of the
SPECTRUM tender is that it is all wheels live and has needlepoint axle pickup, which lessens the drag on the locomotive. The design of the live trucks on the
SPECTRUM tender is markedly different from the design of the one live truck on the stock tender. Thus, with one blow, you will improve the locomotive's runnability and its pulling power. If you will take a peak at Spookshow's website, his review of this thing contains a brief explanation how to do the swap. You must do a minimum of surgery to the tender deck to get it to work. There are other tutorials out there, as well.
If you have an older version, there are still fixes to it. In addition, you can still affix the
SPECTRUM tender to the older versions, it simply requires a little more work.