Thanks, Mr. B!

I'll do that.

Les

I was working on my E-Z track switches again yesterday and discovered a couple things I had not noticed before.  One pretty subtle, the other, pretty obvious.

First, the subtle.  Between the throw rod (the "whisker") and the underside of the switch where the peg to the points extends, there is a little black plastic plate.  This plate is NOT the same on both sides.  It has a top and bottom.

The side of this plate that rubs on the underside of the roadbed casting has a tiny half-spherical nub in each corner.  Apparently, their purpose is to reduce the amount of contact area (and, therefore, friction) between the two pieces when the switch is thrown.  Be sure that you reassemble this part with the correct orientation.

Now, from the sublime to the ridiculous.  I have all my switch controllers ganged in groups to control specific areas of the layout.  They are set up so when the slides are moved to the right, the switches will be lined for through movement.

I have a row of five E-Z switches to form a ladder on one end of my passenger terminal.  After tinkering with the switches, one of them wound up with its polarity reversed.

After puzzling over this problem awhile, I hit upon the solution.  Simply unplug the switch controller, flip the electrical connector over, and plug it back in.  Problem solved!

Les

brokemoto,

There are a few others left:

ALCO:

Black Maria demonstrators: no one makes these.  Looked like little DL-109's.

FPA-4: Canadian model, but used in the USA. Not produced as N scale models, but maybe should be.

EMD: F-3 was produced by Con-Cor at one time.  I have a Con-Cor F-3B dummy.  Very strange trucks.

GE:

Demonstrator cab units used on Erie for evaluation, later sold to UP.  I don't think these had official model names.  They looked sort of like FA's, with small headlights and no nose grilles, car body side panels like those used on U-30CG's.  No one makes these, but would make an interesting kitbash.

Ingalls Shipbuilding:

Built a prototype sold to GM&O.  Had a body that looked a lot (to me) like the first run of KM hydralics sold to D&RGW and SP.  No one makes these either.

Of all of these, I think the only one that warrants production would be the FPA-4.  These were widely used by CN, and later were great power for shortlines.  Are used by Napa Wine Train; Grand Canyon Ry.; and others IIRC.  Also were used by VIA.

Les

Here is a question for Mr. Bach-Man.

I have 2 older Bachmann locomotives that are inoperable due to the same problem.  The nylon gear on the drive axle has split.  It is the white gear that I have read has a tendency to fail.

These particular units are a TGV locomotive, and a 2-6-2.  Both are, as well as I can remember, from the early 1980's.  The TGV is from a set my wife got me for Christmas around 1982, so I'd like to be able to run it again.

I see in the N-scale parts listing are a 2-gear set for the 2-6-2.  I have a current production 2-6-2 that doesn't use the white gear.  Will this replacement gear set fit the old 2-6-2?  Will it also fit the TGV?

If not, are there any replacements for the "white gear"?

Les

More locomotive repair ideas:

I was working on a Life-Like E-7 today that had a most perplexing problem.  The motor would run fine, but the wheels wouldn't turn.  I also had a Life-Like E-8 that was only getting drive power to one truck.  The front truck would work fine, the rear truck's wheels wouldn't turn.  It turned out they both had the same problem.

I removed the body shells and removed the inoperative trucks.  This is done by pushing out the little steel pins that the trucks pivot on.  That pin is also the shaft that the gear that engages the worm rides on.

On these E units, the trucks are not wired to the frame.  Electricity is carried to the frame via contacts.  So, when these pins are removed, the trucks come off freely.

On each of the three inoperative trucks, the gear at the top of the gear tower (the one that engages the worm) was installed backwards.  This gear has a second set of teeth on it to transfer motion to the other gears in the truck.  If it is turned around, this gear will not engage the gears that drive the axle.

So flip the gears over, reinstall the trucks, and push the pins back in.  The pins have a slight chamfer on one end that will help them be inserted.  Use a straight pin as a spud to line the holes up first.

Problem solved!

Remember the pickup problem I had with the Life-Like GP-20?  Well, I had pickup problems with four more Life-Like units: 2 BL-2's and 2 FPA-4's.  These, unlike the GP-20, had their pickup wipers contacting the backside of the wheels.  So, when polishing the wheel treads, try polishing the rear face the the wheel as well.  It really worked!

Then, about fifteen years ago, I bought a Bachmann Spectrum F-7 ABBA set.  One of the B units ran poorly:  it drew a lot of current and made a clicking sound, like it had a gear with a broken tooth.  Earlier this week, I pulled this one apart, expecting to find either a damaged gear or a ballast rock jammed in a gear.

Not so.  It turns out the clicking sound was caused by the armature contacting the field magnets.  This not only made a noise, it also caused the motor to run hot, and refuse to start when the armature was in a certain position.  I'll order a new motor for that one.

I don't think the problems I am solving with my models are unique to me.  So when I have a problem and find a fix for it, I'll pass it along to the rest of you guys.

Les

Rusty,

Kato makes these units, in A&B versions, all powered.

They are nice, smooth runners.  I have two sets of them.  MSRP is $85/unit.

Les

I've not seen one with traction tires.  That is not to say none ever existed.

If the loco was built with traction tires, one pair of wheels would be made with a groove in the wheel tread surface to hold it.  No grooves=no traction tires.

Les

As long as we are discussing locomotive repair, I hit upon something yesterday may be worth passing along.

About three years ago, while out of town on a job assignment, I purchased a Life-Like GP-20.  Work obligations kept me away from my model railroad, but yesterday I took out this still-new N-scale loco to give it a try.

It ran terribly.  Would only move short distances, and haltingly at that.  I took it upstairs to my loco repair shop (the kitchen table).

I brought along my tools, an old powerpack, and a short length of flex track.

Applying the powerpack leads to the track, the loco refused to move.  I took the body shell off, and went to work on it.

Applying the power leads to the wheel treads did not do much.  But when I applied them to the copper contact strip than runs along either side of the frame, it ran fine.  The problem had to be in the trucks somewhere.

I checked the contact between the wheel wipers and the loco frame.  No problem there.  Then I noticed the pickup wipers did not wipe the wheel treads or the back face of the wheels.  They contacted the outside face of the wheel.  But it was a new unit, and clean.

I've found that Life-Like has been lately using a heavy black blackening stuff to blacken their wheels.  I had already cleaned this stuff off the wheel treads, so they were shiny clean.  I put the power leads on the frame and got the motor running,  Then I took a small piece of 400 grit sandpaper and held it against the spinning face of the wheel.  The paper immediately became coated with black, shiny stuff.

I cleaned all the wheels with this method.  After the cleaning, the unit ran fine on track.

This unit is now working just fine.  It seems a little light, but there is no place to add weight.  Maybe they ought to make their frames out of depleted uranium?

Les

James,

I'm glad to see your fixes for the E-Z Track switches.  I have a home layout with 27 of these.  While most of these work well, I have a few "problem children".

I use E-Z Track for all my mainline and heavily-used secondary tracks.  My yard and other secondary tracks use Atlas code 80 track and switches on Woodland Scenics foam roadbed.

The Atlas switches, while a little crude (these are 1960's designs that were based on 1950's HO switches), have powerful solenoid switch machines that operate with a powerful snap.  They have unpowered frogs and are not power-routing.  However, they are relatively "bullet proof".  Their main weakness is, if you hold the switch controller button down too long, you'll melt the switch machine solenoid.

I was attracted to the E-Z Track system because I felt the molded roadbed would make it easier to maintain curve radius, and I liked the E-Z Track switches high-tech design.

But sometimes I feel that the complex design over-reached the manufacturing ability.  The solenoid needs to be stronger to reliably operate both the switch points and the power-routing contacts.  If the switches could be built to tighter tolerances, they would be great.

Yesterday, I spent several hours trying to correct a switch that had two problems at once:  The frog was not receiving power, and the point rail was not staying tight against the stock rail.

I eventually was able to correct the problem, but reading your post today (buried back on page 14!) was the first and only time I've seen reference to the correct orientation of the pinion gear.  1 o'clock and 7 o'clock!  I think you've added several years to my life!

I had one switch (far away at the far end of a reverse loop) that was so troublesome I replaced it with a piece of straight track (had to splice two pieces together) while I ordered a replacement switch.  I ruined the original switch when I broke the wires to the electromagnet trying to fix it (that makes 28 E-Z Switches).

A few things I want to point out here that may help others:

The "throw bar" spring wire may not fit tightly enough inside the switch to keep the points from wobbling (tolerances again).  You can help this by cutting a little shim from very thin plastic with a hole in it, and putting it over the peg from the points before replacing the spring wire.  This will also help hold parts together while working on it.

The copper "rocker" that routes power through the switch is critical.  Not enough pressure against the contact pads and no power flows.  Too much pressure and the mechanism binds.  It is very important that both ends of the rocker, and the part that engages the solenoid have just the right amount of tension.  When you take the back off the switch, note the position of the rocker in relation to the switch points.  It is easy to get it reversed!

Power is delivered to the stock rails via contacts near the ends of the rails.  If you mess with this area (like, shortening stock rails to fit switches closer together; or cutting off and replacing a rail joiner) you will lose electrical continuity to that track.  That part of the switch will have to be powered either by electricity from the track it is connected to, or via a jumper wire connecting both parts of the rail.

It is possible to actually break a rail by messing with the switch.  This is not as bad as it sounds.  A little solder applied to the outside of the rail with a hot soldering iron will make things right.

Eight of my E-Z Switches were used to make four crossovers between my main lines.  I wired these so one switch controller can power both switches at once.  I noticed the controllers must have a capacitor inside them.  If I try to quickly operate the switches and reset them, they move sluggishly and may not throw completely.  But, if I wait a few seconds between moves, they work fine.  Apparently, the capacitors need to recharge.

One very frustrating thing can happen with these crossover switch pairs.  If one switch throws, and the other doesn't, it is possible to get one switch of the pair out of synch with the other.  I haven't been able to solve this without pulling the switch and repositioning the power router bar.  Logically, one should be able to just disconnect one switch and work the other, but it doesn't work that way in practice.

Thanks again for helping me, and I hope my suggestions can help others.  If Bachmann can get the execution of these switches up to their design potential, they will really have something there.

Les

Arnold produced locomotives for Minitrix, and also produced locos and cars in partnership with Rapido.  Minitrix and the Arnold line were distributed in the US by Model Power.

You may want to do a search for Model Power and see if they offer a repair service.  Otherwise, there may be private parties who might take this on.

The Arnold locomotives were pretty durable, especially the ones with the cast metal bodies.  But it is possible to wear one out.

A lot of times, these little engines just need a good cleaning: electrical contact problems; foreign material in gears, etc.  It takes up to twenty years to wear one of these out.  So, if it hasn't been subject to a lot of hard use, it may just need a cleanup.

What will kill these units in use is overloading them.  It can cause the gears to break.  After an awful lot of use, the motor brushes can wear out.

I've been in N-scale since 1978, and I've worn out a few locomotives, but not many.  Mostly, they were late sixties/early seventies designs that were not very robust.

Les

Haze Gray and Underway!

Les

PD,

I only joined this forum a few days ago, but I want to welcome you back (this is my first post).  And welcome back to Yampa Bob, too.  I have a lot of admiration for you guys to stay in the hobby despite your physical limitations.

I retired this past April, and have no plans for leaving the hobby.  I model Denver passenger operations in the early sixties in N-scale.  My challenge is seeing what I'm doing.

I noticed the idea in this thread about using chopsticks to hold up the thin building flats.  Why not?  Most of the models are made in China anyway!

Actually, I do something similar on my railroad.  I have a long viewblock to hide a mainline on the backside of my layout.  It needed to be removable so I could access the track if I needed to.  I made it of a long strip of blue foam insulation board, supported on the backside with bamboo skewers (the Chinese influence again).

This allows me to lift it out and replace it in the exact spot.  This viewblock has my building flats attached directly to it, along with some Walthers scenery background prints glued to it.  This viewblock is about 8" tall.
I painted it sky blue to match the taller backdrop behind the hidden main line, and it is not really noticeable.

Les