Connectivity Issue with Light Mountain

[Gustav]

I am having a connectivity issue with my Bachmann Light Mountain in that it often, but not always, stalls at certain spots along the track. Two of these locations are on a turnout, the other is on a straight stretch of solid track with no seams.

Lacking a meter, I simply, slowly, and carefully dragged the wires of an incandescent bulb along the rails at the trouble spots. The bulb never flickered indicating that the track has power throughout.

Meanwhile, the Bachmann Consolidation runs through these areas without a problem.

If, say, the drivers of the longer Light Mountain were, for some reason, lifting off the track at these locations, wouldn't the tender, which has pickup, prevent the engine from losing connection with the track?

Should I suspect the engine instead of the track?

[James in FL]

Should I suspect the engine instead of the track?

I would first suspect under gauged wheels/drivers on the lokie, then,
Only after that was corrected, would I suspect track gauge.

I have yet to purchase any B'mann steamer that did not require a re-gauging of the wheels, and/or, drivers (usually both).
Some are close, some are grossly under gauge, and I have yet to find one new within the NMRA gauge tolerance.

Get it gauged right and they will purr like kittens.

[Gustav]

G'day James,

Hmmm....by "gauging" the wheels, you mean using an NMRA guage to confirm spacing between the wheels or the vertical alignment? 

Gustav

[Gustav]

Just gauged the spacing of the drivers and all other contact wheels including the tender's.  All are fine. 

Gustav

[James in FL]

Hi Gustav,

Hmmm....by "gauging" the wheels, you mean using an NMRA gauge to confirm spacing between the wheels...

Yes. This is what I was referring to, using an NMRA gauge to check the spacing and then adjusting the wheels/drivers on their axles to conform to the gauge.
Sometimes there is a bit of vertical float, in the bearing blocks to the frame which generally is a good thing.

In your next post you say

Just gauged the spacing of the drivers and all other contact wheels including the tender's.  All are fine.

Does this mean that now the wheels are all in gauge and you continue to have issues with it?
Or rather, that by correcting the wheel gauge, the issues have been corrected as well?

If you continue to have problems, I can open mine up and maybe offer another thought or two to try to help you solve this.

[Gustav]

James,

Thanks very much for trying to help me out with this perplexing problem.  Yes, what I meant to say was that the NMRA guage showed that all drivers and contact wheels were spaced correctly, yet the problem persists. 

Meanwhile, when I was gauging the wheels on both the Light Mountain and the Consolidation, I noticed that the two screws holding the flat plate on the belly of the Consolidation which seems to put pressure on the drivers were loose.  I am not sufficiently skilled to operate on these engines but when I tightened the screws I observed that just a slight tweeking of the screws resulted in a significant difference in the engine's performance.  Turns out, that when fully tightened, the engine wobbles considerably, so much so that the forward driver lifts off the rails and derails the engine on one of my curves.  I subsequently spent 45 minutes adjusting the tension on these screws until the wobble went away again and the engine remained on the tracks.  Seems like a flimsy solution, however.   The screws on the Light Mountain were tight and after noticing the great affect messing with these screws has on the operation of the engine, I decided to leave them alone on the Light Mountain. 

Likely, this has nothing to do with the stalling problems, but I mention it only because it struck me how little tolerance there is in the mechanics of the engines.  What if the screws vibrate into a new postion and the performance of the engine declines?  Or, perhaps there is something inherently amiss about the way the plate is seated on the Consolidation, a separate issue altogether, I'm sure.  Perhaps I should post a separate mention of this on the forum to see if there's a more secure fix for this. 

[James in FL]

OK I'll look at mine tonight.
Adjusting the driver cover plate screws, on the Connie, was a good thing, as you now see first hand the effects thereof.
Don't be afraid to try the same thing on the Light Mountain.

[brokemoto]

I have had this problem with more than one of B-mann's SPECTRUM steam locomotives.  The problem is where the stiff wires in the tender make contact with a split post at the aft of the locomotive.

The correction is simple:

1.  Take a piece of sandpaper, fold it and sand the sides of the post.

2.  Bend in the stiff wires on the drawbar to ensure that they make good contact with the post on the locomotive.  Take care that you do not pop out the other ends of the stiff wire  where they make contact with the posts on  tender truck.

After I make this correction, the contact and stalling problems go away.  There is no need to add weight to the tender as it has sufficient weight , for good contact, from the manufacturer (unlike the Kato USRA Standard).

Also, do check the forward tender truck to make sure that the stiff wires are making proper contact with the posts on the tender trucks.  Sometimes, they pop out of alignment due to mishandling in the shipping process.

[Gustav]

Alas, when I removed the belly plate of the Consolidation and manipulated the drivers to determine whether something was out of alignment, I only made the situation much worse.  Now, the engine wobbles like a drunk, doesn't stay on the curves at all, and loses connectivity more than ever.  Clearly, I need professional help.   

Meanwhile, I'll return to the Light Mountain and follow brakemoto's advice.  However, I am not going anywhere near that belly plate! 

[Gustav]

From my perspective as a novice model RR mechanic, I have two choices:

1) send both engines to Bachmann for inspection and repair (and be without any motive power to test my track as I finish laying it) or
2) take advantage of this forum and perhaps, with coaching from the masters out there, learn to fix the problems myself.  I'd prefer the latter. 

So, I'll open up the Consilidation again.  Is there anything particular I should look for under that belly plate that would reveal the problem?  Should the drive rods on the side of the wheels be in any particular postition?  The pair of drivers second from the front have a hole in their side as though something should be connected to the wheels but nothing is obviously disconnected. 

[brokemoto]

as a novice model RR mechanic:
 
Should the drive rods on the side of the wheels be in any particular postition? 

It appears to me that your drivers are WAY out of quarter.

The counterweights (the part of the wheel where it appears that the spokes have been filled in) should all line up in the same position.  I would have ot look, but I am assuming that this one is a right-hand lead, so start with the starboard side counterweights at three o'clock and the port side at twelve.

[Gustav]

Yes, I had a feeling the counterweights must be aligned somehow, but I had no clue just how they have to be oriented.  With the loco upright, I just aligned the starboard weights to three o'clock (on the leading quarter of the wheel).  Since right and left wheels are interlocked, that put the weights at six o'clock on the port side.  She still wobbles terribly.   

Are there other standard orientations?

[brokemoto]

I had no clue how they have to be oriented.  With the loco upright, I just aligned the starboard weights to three o'clock (on the leading quarter of the wheel).  Since right and left wheels are interlocked, that put the weights at six o'clock on the port side.  She still wobbles terribly.   

Are there other standard orientations?

This time, I took a look at all mine.  The SPECTRUM 2-8-0 is a LEFT hand lead.  I looked at all the other ones that I had out:  the SPECTRUM 4-8-2; MP eight-wheeler, mogul, pacific and mikado; Athearn/MDC 2-6-0 and 2-8-0; LL 2-8-4; Kato mikado.  All of these are right hand lead.

I never noticed this before, the consolidated is a left hand lead.  Most US roads had their steam locomotives right-hand lead.  PRR was a notable exception; most of its power was left-hand lead.  The USRA power that PRR had came right-hand lead; I do not know if PRR converted it to left-hand during rebuildings.

Since the SPECTRUM 2-8-0 is left-hand lead, it should align as you state.

If it is still wobbling, make sure that the bearing blocks are snug in their journals.  If that fails, I would send it back to B-mann.

[Gustav]

Brakemoto,

Looks like it's going back to Bachmann.  The little square blocks, while seated in their housings, do wiggle a bit.  However, I don't see how that would have changed; the housings wouldn't suddenly have grown larger overnight.  She still wobbles although the wheels are aligned as I described. 

I want to thank you for all your help with this. I did learn something, though I don't feel I accomplished much.  BTW, I was following the thread on the N-scale Atlas forum regarding "Steam For a Reasonable Price" and am encouraged that I made the right choice in engines for my first layout.  I will keep the Kato Mikado in mind for future additions.

At the same time, I am dishearted to learn that one simply cannot expect these engines to run well out of the box.  I came away with the impression that only the mechanically inclined can run steam successfully.  The rest of us should stick to diesels.  What are the "standard" adjustments one must make to a steam engine like a Bachmann when one takes it out of the box?
Someone like yourself ought to consider teaching a clinic on this at a regional event. 

[taz-of-boyds]

Gustav,

Don't be too discouraged.  I actually have seven of the 2-8-0 Bachmann Consolidations (six of them WM one B&O, gee I wonder what railroads are among the lines I am interested in...).  I have one 2-6-6-2 and one 4-8-2 light Mountain.  I don't run much yet because I don't have a layout setup except when I am doing equipment testing.  The real layout is still in research, development and design.     The only problems I have had are the side rods binding on the 2-6-6-2, the 4-8-2 seems to be a light puller, and one of the Consolidations has a slight wobble.  Other than that they have been great runners in my tests.

Brokemoto,

Thanks for the posts, sharing your expertise is fantastic.

Thanks,
Charles

PS, I have three 2-8-0 MDC-Roundhouse Consolidations (now Athearn) and one 2-6-0.  They have been trouble free and will be part of my small coal carrier fleet.