I had a my 2-8-0 running with a few freight cars when a guy dropped off the club coaches on a passing siding in the middle of the main. I raideoed the dispatcher to drop my load off at the stageing yard and asked zach to get my 4-8-4 out of the siding he left it in (it was shaking a bit for him...) after getting the 2 together, I ran both all the way to the coaches and picked them up. After that, they ran fine till they were at the top of the layout. The 4-8-4 would stall and the 2-8-0 would push it till it came alive. It was nice till the dispatcher asked me if I wanted to take it off, so I did. Then I asked to highball. After doing 85 on the contoller, the poor 2-8-0 stalled slipping on the 3ed level of the helix (around 10 levels). It was a sad, yet funny sight because everyone thought it would make it.
What was wrong with my 4-8-4? It ran fine, it just would stall like it was on dirty track. The wiring is fine, I checked. The 2-8-0 never stalled. (Unless a engine tripped a switch and killed the whole layout)
jtf-
Just speculation here, but if your Northern stalled at the
very apex of the hill it could be there's a hillock there which
caused the loco to lift off of the track a bit. The Connie may
have pushed it just enough that it came back down.
-- D
Alright, i'll inspect it next time it runs. would weight help?