Steam Locos have no pulling power

[Rebskipper]

I have two 2-10-0 Spectrum Steam Locos that have no pulling power up a slight grade;  wheels slip and I cannot pull a decent load of cars.  I have looked to see if i can add weight to the engine but there does not appear to be any space available other than a bit in the tenders.

Are traction tires or Snot an option?  If so, what tires should I be looking at and where would I get them.  Do you put them on all the drive wheels or just a few?   Fairly new at this so I appreciate any help.

[Terry Toenges]

Adding weight to the tender would hurt rather than help since the tender is being pulled. I looked around a few sites and it seems a lot of folks are just going with the Snot. I don't have one.
In Google  Advanced Search,  you can put "Bachmann HO Decapod" in the top line and "adding weight" in the "exact word or phrase part. That will bring up a few sites where they are talking about it.

[Rebskipper]

Thank you both for the reply's.  Will try your advice

[bbmiroku]

If any of the wheels on your engine were meant to have traction tires, the wheel would have a groove all around it instead of a flat metal surface where it touches the rails.

[emde5]

What is a slight grade?  How many cars? Are they weighted correctly?  Straight grade or curved?  Are the cars free rolling?  All of these things will affect the pulling ability of the locomotive.

[Trainman203]

Is this s DCC / Sound engine?  If so, the default motor control cv's are set incorrectly. The motor is fighting itself.  I reset my several decapods and they now regularly take 10 or 12 cars up a 2 percent grade.  I'll put the settings up for you once I find the book they are recorded in.

[Rebskipper]

Thanks folks. All great points. I will start working on them today and get back to you. I have noticed my factory set cvs may need fine tuning. I'm using NCE DCC.  The grade is 2%.  Will check the wheels. I have been weighting my rolling stock to 80% of the NMRA recommendations.  Wheels might need cleaning will get back to you all. Many thanks

[Trainman203]

If you have a Bachmann Soundtraxx decoder try these CV values :

Cv 2 -0.   Cv 209 - 255.  Cv 210 -  engine A is 0,  engine B is 1.  Cv 212 -  engine A is 255, engine B is 175.

Cv 116 - try 150 to 200, adjust till chuff sounds like 4 chugs / driver revolution . 

Engine A is the ATSF 2552 that came in the black box and had a better sounding system than undecorated engine B which came in a blue box.

I don't know why there are differences between these engines.  I arrived at these values by trial and error.  Yours may vary some, be prepared.

[Trainman203]

Arkansas Texas and Southern no. 2552, stock Bachmann 2-10-0 except for removal of the "F" from the cab (engine "A") just walked 15 cars without slippage or complaint up the 1 percent south of Midland on the AT&S.

[Rebskipper]

Thank you for the CV information guys; I'll try them out.  I have been playing a bit with Tsunami CV's and have modified 209-218.  I think the locos both seem to run smoother but no greater pulling power with what I've done so far.

On the earlier points made, the wheels and track were cleaned with no change.  I was wrong about my grade; it is closer to 3% than 2% which works against me. 

Regarding possible traction tires, four sets of wheels have a rim on the inside of one side but no groove; the middle set has no rim.  So I am not sure traction tires are for these engines.

Thank you all for your help.

[Rebskipper]

BTW I should have mentioned the two locos are both the Blue Box Bachmann Spectrum's  1107 Susquehanna and 2443 Western Maryland.  It could be that they are just too light to pull more than 4 cars up the grade I have which is also curved.

[Trainman203]

A grade on a curve is death for tractive effort. I have 2 curves with minor grades, one 26" R and the other 28" but the engines do ok there.  How sharp is your curve?

Try my cv values and report back.

[Rebskipper]

The radius is 26".  Will try the CV's....going to be away a few days will get back to you next week;  much appreciated, thank youl

[bbmiroku]

By rim, do you mean flange?  That would be the part of the wheel that (usually) holds the train to the tracks instead of rolling all over the place.  And even on the real things, sometimes the middle set of large wheels (drivers) would not have a flange, to help the engine negotiate a slightly-too-tight curve.

[Rebskipper]

Sorry. Yes it is a flange.   No groove for tires.