Spectrum Mogul problem.

[Mark Damien]

G'day everyone,

I have a Yellow Pines Lumber spectrum 2-6-0. It has difficulties running through my 10' dia turnouts.

It jams & stops when the center driver reaches the frog, in any direction.
There are a couple of metal "spikes" suspended under the loco, & this seems to cause the problem. Are these spikes meant to be removed?

The loco comes with a video, but I haven't had a video player in over five years, so I don't know if it is explained there.

Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

[NarrowMinded]

Hi,
I have a Mogul as well, the "spikes" are Guides that keep the "Blind" drivers centered over the track, Silly question but are you certain you have 10' Dia turnouts? also check to see if the frogs need a little tuning, shaving them to make sure they don't stick inward and squeeze/pinch the guides to gather or try to spread them apart, another thing to look for is that the center drivers are floating freely side to side mine has about 1/8" to 3/16"  3.17mm to 4.76mm of play.

NM

[altterrain]

Mark,

Are these the Aristo wide radius switches? If so, the problem may have to do with the shallow frogs on these. Deep flanged wheels tend to ride up on the frog and can disrupt contact with the rail. There are two solutions -
Aristo makes a replacement frog available for $1/each - http://www.aristocraft.com/vbulletinforums/showthread.php?t=14684
or the frog can be ground down with a thin file or a thin cutting bit on a dremel too. I have close to 20 of these and ground down all the frogs on mine before installing them. Use a deep flanged wheel set as a depth guide.

This is the type of dremel bit (#9901) I use -



-Brian

[Mark Damien]

Thanks guys,

I'll take another look at it. It's so difficult to see, but now I've been pointed in the right direction, I'll get it sorted.

Cheers.

[Loco Bill]

Mark,

If you determine it is the guides, many I know have removed them and have had no problems.

Best,

[Mark Damien]

G'day All,

I checked the depth of the flangeway & although shallow was enough for the Mogul flanges to get though smoothly.

I had a look at the guide pins again & measured their Back to Back width.
As best as I can tell, its just under 37mm.
These guide pins extend below the rail head & so must follow the flangeway.  By comparison, the Wheel flange 'Back to Back' is about 40mm.
Here's the crunch - The The turnout's guide & wing rail width is just over 37mm. 'Bit of a Square peg in the Round hole problem here!

So it seems the Guide pins will not travel within the flangeways, as they foul the guide & wing rail.

Does anyone have a solution to this problem?
I don't want to file the wing & guide rails away as they are already very thin.
I was thinking of filing the Guide Pins a little , but cannot realistically get 2mm off, without making them too thin.
Has anyone run without the pins, & are there any other problems associated with this?

[Loco Bill]

Mark,

Many guys I know have removed the pins without trouble,  Try it and if you don't like it reinstall the pins.

I'm betting it will solve your problem especially with your wide radius curves.  The locos I saw without the pins worked just fine.   Bachamnn never repeated the pins on future locomotives, because of this.

Regards,

[Jon D. Miller]

Mark,
Forget about frogs, flangeways, guide rails and any other comments that deal with the switches.

Remove the guide pins and be done with it. It's the guide pins that cause the problem.

I've had this Spectrum Mogul since they were first introduced.  On trip around the layout when the locomotive was new and it became obvious that the guide pins had to go.  The Mogul will run just fine without the guide pins.  They are not needed.


One of the "Enthusiastic Children"

JD

[Mark Damien]

DONE !

I'd hate to find out by accident, I shouldn't have!
I was worried in case they served a higher purpose, but obviously not.
I ran the loco around the track & nothing fell off, exploded or derailed.
Oh, & it went through the turnouts perfectly.

Thanks to all for your advice.

Cheers.
Mark

[NarrowMinded]

looks like I might remove mine now also, I could likely run the loco around the Christmas tree this year with out those Guide pins.

[Jon D. Miller]

It's interesting that those of us that have had the Mogul since it first became available during Decmeber of 2000 forget to mention the guide pins.  Guess we just think that everyone knows to remove the guide pins.

At the time the Mogul was introduced this site and others were filled with comments on the need to remove the guide pins.  Since that was nine years ago most have forgotten all those postings.

Mark and others that may acquire a new Mogul or American it would be a good idea to use Loctite 222 on the Phillips head screws that attach the drivers to the axles.



As shown in the picture, there's a small center cap that covers the Phillips head screw.  Pop the cap off, I use a hobby knife, remove the mounting screw and place a small drop of Loctite 222 on the threads.  Don't over tighten the Phillips head screw; just make sure it is snug against the driver.

Do not use any Loctite formula stronger than 222 if you ever want to remove the drivers. 


One of the "Enthusiastic Children"


JD

[Mark Damien]

It's interesting that those of us that have had the Mogul since it first became available during December of 2000.....

One of the "Enthusiastic Children"

JD

Thanks JD,

the Triple Two Goo, is going on today.