On Monday I decided to run my locomotives around on the layout to test the turnouts.
First I ran the V0-1000 diesel around. Sadly it did not go all that well. It looks like I need to do some re-work on all the turnouts. The point rails don’t quite allow enough clearance and the loco kept derailing.
So I thought it would be fun to just run it on the curves. But the loco made a sort of grinding noise when moving on a curve. That’s not right. So I took it apart to investigate. As far as I can tell there is too much play in the worm gears. So I ordered some shims.
That’s one loco down.
I thought maybe I would pull out the steam locomotive and try it. It didn’t want to run well at all either. At first I thought it was an electrical pickup problem because it would start and stop randomly, but since the sound didn’t stop working when the loco stopped moving it probably wasn’t that. I didn’t feel like taking it apart also so I just packed it away again. I have a feeling it’s binding somewhere and maybe the motor I put in it isn’t really strong enough either. So I ordered a new motor to try later.
That’s two locos down.
I thought it would be fun to try the Proto 2000 GP7 that I bought, even though it doesn’t have DCC in it yet. But first I had to take it apart and replace the gears on the axles. That wasn’t too bad a job so I hooked up an older DC power pack to the rails and ran the GP7 around a bit. It also was derailing on the switches (no surprise really) and it wasn’t running that well either, though that may be the power packs fault. I need to save up a few more dollars and order the DCC decoder to install in it. So I put it away on the shelf and went and took a nap.
That’s three locos down.
For those keeping score, I have three locomotives, none of which are running well. I also have track work that doesn’t work.
I’m going to have to rework all the turnouts until the locos can navigate them properly. And repair the locomotives.
So I’m a little discouraged with the layout at the moment.
That’s frustrating. My first couple turnouts I made had some trouble too. Luckily shifting one of the points for more clearance shouldn’t be too difficult. Might need to adjust the bullfrog too.
Those proto2000 gears were such a pain. I had so many that were cracked. Was it hard to replace the gears? I bought new axles with the gears on them.
Are all the wheels in gauge on your locos?
Keep it up!
Thanks Eric. Replacing the gears was pretty simple, the wheels just pull out of the old gears. Pressing them into the new gears took a little force, but wasn’t too hard.
I did check the gauge of all the wheels. I think the locos derail because the flanges on the wheels are thicker than on the rolling stock I had tested with before. Also the wheels are further apart along the length of the trucks than on car trucks.
Well, it’s easy to say, ‘Don’t be discouraged, Tim’, but really…don’t be discouraged. The beauty of our model kingdoms is that when things don’t work out we can go upstairs, go for a walk, drink heavily, or have a nap! Tnen return later to work on them some more. The prototype has to fix everything and get it going right away, by comparison.
I bought two of the Proto units one time and had to return them to the seller for those very issues. Discouraging! Sad!
Catching up on your progress – the scrap metal flat, backdrops and most of all your ‘soup can unit train’ really caught my eye and are neat additions.
Full steam ahead!
Yet another Eric,
Eric
Thanks for the kind words. I’ve been re-working the turnouts and most of them are in pretty good shape now. I need to use a little more care when building them apparently. The turnouts were a little tight in spots and the loco wheels were just a tad wide, so the locos would ride up over the point rails. Setting the rails and wheels to gauge helped a lot.
Got the V0-1000 mostly working, I think the jerkiness at low speed is just the motor cogging and may be inherent in the beast.
Oh well, I’m just carrying on.