[CVRR]

About 3 years ago I picked up a nice Atlas S2 Gold Edition with DCC and ESU Lok Sound. It has sat in its box ever since until today. For grins and chuckles I picked up some Kato UniTrack and Peco Code 55 flex track with one medium sized turnout for each type of track. The Peco turnout is #6 Unifrog RH. The Kato Unitrack is also their #6 which is frog powered and not adjustable like their #4 yard switches..

Trying the Peco track and turnout first I experienced some jerkyness with the S2 especially through the turnout. Powering the frog made things better going through the turnout but the jerkiness persisted on the regular track. I attributed this to the lousy rail splicers that come with the Peco track that need soldering to work well. So, next the Kato track. Powered the section of track at both ends so both sides of the turnout have power when switched. Turns out the Alco struggles a bit sometimes but not always jerking a few times going through the Kato turnout. Sometimes the sound cuts out, sometimes not.

So, for grins and chuckles I decided to measure the track and the wheels of the Alco. The Peco track measures 9.01 mm and the Kato around 9.03 or so. Not bad. Now it gets interesting. Outside flange to outside flange of the Alco wheels measure 8.50 mm. When the Alco is on the tracks you can visibly see and feel a side to side slop if you will when moving the loco.

So, finally to my question. Apologies for the long post. Is this much difference normal? Could this be causing my issues? I have no other locos but the one to try.

Thank you in advance for any help.

 

[DonR]

The first suspect when a loco has
jerky running is poor electrical
conductivity from track to wheels.
Both must be clean. Even new
items often are tainted with
something that inhibits
good electrical conductivity.
Joiners, as you mention, also
must be tight with a good grip
on connected rails.

Try a little TLC and see if
that helps.

Don

 

[CVRR]

Thank you Don. I did just that, cleaned the wheels with Iso and also the tracks. It does seem to have made a difference but I will keep testing. Forgot to mention I am using a NCE ProCab controller. The other thing I noticed is it appears that the rails on the turnout are a higher code that the track. Odd, as Kato only offers one size code. Must be a QC issue. I filed those down a bit to make a smooth transition from the track onto the turnout.

How much should I trust the Kato electrical connections from track to track? i am thinking when I start my build to solder wires onto the track from underneath. I have already done one and it seems to be not hard to do when I discovered I needed two places to power track when the turnout is switched off main line and I only bought one. LOL. I'm thinking every other track would give good redundancy.

Anyone have any input on the difference in measurement between the track and the S2's wheels. I'm thinking .5mm ain't much, but is it?

Thanx again.

 

[REdington]

Clean the wheels more to get the blackening off them. It took me about 20 minutes to get mine clean enough to run decent. I ended up taking the 2 I have and wired them together and now they run super nice.

 

[Andrew CV]

I bought a second one of these as the first was running jerky I thought due to an operating incident when new (sudden polarity reversal). The second one was the same, then I read Spookshows advice about the wheels needing extraordinary cleaning, but it's still a jerky runner nonetheless. Looks like I need to spend a little more time on it.

 

[CVRR]

Thanx all. I did just a quick cleaning of the wheels and so far it has made a tremendous difference. Being a newb to this hobby more or less I never gave it a thought that a brandy new loco out of the box would need cleaning like that but it certainly does stand to reason. Oil residue, blackening or whatever for sure.

 

[Big Ed]

Thanx all. I did just a quick cleaning of the wheels and so far it has made a tremendous difference. Being a newb to this hobby more or less I never gave it a thought that a brandy new loco out of the box would need cleaning like that but it certainly does stand to reason. Oil residue, blackening or whatever for sure.

Welcome to MTF.
I acquired a lot of N scale trains, older things.
My N,

Ed's N Scale

Thanks to Xatt's kid (little Stan?) I went on a hunt for my N scale stuff which was scattered here and there in the dark gloomy confines of my dungeon. ( sort of like an Easter egg hunt):D My HO scale are all packed nice as is my most of my O (somewhat:rolleyes:) I have been putting off the...

www.modeltrainforum.com

Most of the Locomotives didn't run or ran crappy.
Just by cleaning all the wheels I got all but a few running nice.
Seems like the N scale likes clean track and wheels.
Get or make some kind of track cleaning car to run around once and a while.
And clean the wheels every so often.