50 ton Climax

[alcofan1]

I recently purchased the 50 ton Climax and it is a great locomotive.  However I have a small switching layout that it runs on that uses atlas code 100 snap switches.  The loco stalls out on a couple of them all the time and on others only some of the time.  What can I do to remedy the situation either to the loco or switches or both.  Thanks

[MarcF]

Check to see where and why  exactly it stalls..

Could be out of gauge wheels sets.   Could frog related (un-powered frogs). Could be track pickup. Could be combination all of the above.

Marc

[alcofan1]

If its the frogs how would I fix them?

[MarcF]

If its the frogs how would I fix them?

If your turnouts have metal frog, you should be able to supply power to the frog.  if the frog is plastic, nothing can be done. Polarity is an issue.

I have some Atlas track with metal frog. I simply filled the provided hole with low temp solder and while solder was hot pushed the wire up. Itt is not great but it does supply power to the frog.  They are white metal frogs so solder does not hold fast.  Better than a big fat screw.  My other turnouts are a tad more $$ and I solder direct to frog.   

Other than that, it is a question of providing additional track pick up wipers to the engine if possible.

Marc