Squealing When Stopping

[SJC]

Hello,

Back here for the first time in a long time.

I had a less than desirable experience with WBB engines and the Bachmann staff in the early years of Williams by Bachmann. I'm seriously considering giving WBB another shot as I was always happy with their HO and N scale products (BTW, took a serious look at the Bachmann product lines in HO, N ON30 at the October York show - WOW! Seriously nice stuff!)

On my now sold WBB engines I remember them squealing just as they came to a stop. A friend of mine also has several WBB engines and has experienced the same thing. Of course, the we properly lubricate and care for our trains so lack of lubrication isn't an issue.

Anyone familiar with this and the cause? I'm looking to get back into WBB thanks to the "bullet-proof" nature of WBB products but dealing with issues like this squealing down the road makes me a bit nervous.

Thanks!

[phillyreading]

I have never had any Williams engine squeal on me at any time. I suspect you may have a problem in the production molding of the unit or in the truck assemblies not being 100% correct.

Lee F.

[Bob Banjany]

I have over 100 WBB locos between diesel and steam and they ALL squeal when stopped abruptly

[3rail]

Bob,

It is very hard to believe that all of your 100 locos have this issue. The locos that you mentioned in your other threads were over 20 years old. If they are older than that, and do not have a flywheel a sudden stop squeal is the wheels sliding on the track.  There is no cure for this.  You have to throttle down slowly on these models.

If your locos have been stored for 20 years or more, you are going to need to clean off the old lubrication and re-lubricate them. Then run them for so time so that the lube gets distributed. This should solve the majority of your problems.

When lubrication and run-in time does not solve the problem, look at these two other possibilities.

1.  Flywheel rubbing against top of shell.  When this happens, it is usually where the body shell curves down on the side. You can thin the flywheel by removing the shell and running the loco on rollers or on blocks to let the wheel spin freely.  While running on the blocks, take a flat metal file to remove some material from the top of the flywheel.  The flywheel needs to be spinning so that it will still be balanced after filing. Make sure to use safely glasses or goggles and a dust mask.  Use compressed air to blow off any metal filings.

2.  Motor worm gear rubbing the inside of the motor mount.  This will go away with time because the worm gear is steel and the motor mount is softer Zamak. However, if it is getting on your nerves, you can take off the truck and then take the motor mount off of the motor and file the inside hole of the motor mount with a round metal file.

Regards,

3rail