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It is amazing these things even ran at all when new. If you missed my earlier post look for "make Baldwin run or run better". So I got these two Baldwins running nice, but one had no traction and the wheels would spin even pulling a couple of cars. I had noticed the aluminum frame looked bent a bit, so I straightened it and when I tried putting the body back on it took some slight force to get the screw back in, and when I got it in, you could see the aluminum frame visible along the side of the body. So here is what it was, maybe you all know this already, but if you flipped the body over and looked inside the shell, the nub from where the plastic was injected into the mold was nearly 1/4" high! High, or low when right side up I suppose, enough to contact the E unit and cause the very flexible aluminum frame to deflect when the body was fastened. Had to be like that from brand new! Had to be!! The body is not deformed in any way. Grabbed a Dremel tool and ground it off flush. Body dropped on smoothly and screw lined up without any forcing. Locomotive pulls nicely now and works even better. This was the one with the two position E unit. And the other 355 Baldwin with the four position E unit had the same issue just not quite as serious. But now both work even better. If you didn't notice this already on your Baldwin, you should check it, maybe it is another reason why they almost all crack around the screw hole. By the way, I repaired the screw holes by using a Dremel and slightly grinding away on the body at the back side of the screw hole, cutting a small strip of sheet metal, drilling a hole for the screw and a few other tiny holes to give the epoxy (JBWeld ) places to bite on, and bonded it to the inside of the body.
These Baldwins run great now and there is no way they could have run well when new.
These Baldwins run great now and there is no way they could have run well when new.