Train Skipping

[djs1079]

In November of 2023 we received as an early Christmas gift Union Pacific 4432 HO scale.  After a few weeks, the train was skipping/hesitating only on one piece of track.  Bachmann sent us a new piece and all was fine the rest of that season. We brought the train out again this past Thanksgiving and all was fine for a few weeks. 

Then the train started skipping/hesitating on one piece of track again (I have no idea if it's the replacement piece or not). I cleaned the track and all was well till this past Friday.  It was coming to a stop on that one track piece.  I cleaned it again and it worked.  Turned it on again yesterday (Wednesday) for my nephew and it started hesitating and coming to a stop again on the same piece.  I cleaned it again and it worked a few laps then starting hesitating again.

Am I doing something wrong?  This is our first train and we really don't run it a lot.  What is causing this problem with one piece of track at a time?  Visually the track piece looks fine.  I know you can upgrade to nickel track, but for a train that is only a year old and has very little use, I would not expect this many problems.

[Fred Klein]

Since this is a temporary layout (I'm assuming) check to see if that particular piece of track is fully supported or if it is flexing when the train passes over it. Flexing can cause momentary, minute gaps as the locomotive passes over, causing arcing which will cause track fouling. Since things seem to work OK for a while after cleaning, dirt definitely seem to be the culprit. I would also clean the locomotive wheels with a cotton swab and some isopropyl alcohol or mineral spirits. One thing you can try is to swap that particular piece of track with another one on the layout, clean both of them, and then see what happens. Hope this helps.

[djs1079]

Thanks Fred.  So I did move the piece,  cleaned it again as well as the train wheels.

I ran it a good half hour.  It started hesitating again towards the end of the half hour,  not horrible,  but noticeable. 

The piece it was hesitating on was the same piece as before,  though in it's new location.

The track does sit on a piece of plywood,  so it is fully supported.

[trainman203]

The answer is simple. Buy a new piece of track.  Use the bad one at the end of a spur where a locomotive doesn't run all the way down to.

[djs1079]

But should I have to replace a track piece on a train that is 1 year old and has a little use?  This would be the 2nd piece that needs replaced out of a 12 piece track.  I thought Bachmann trains were better then that?

[trainman203]

Well, no, you shouldn't, but how much is your time worth? How much time have you spent trying to rehabilitate a couple of pieces of sectional track that you probably could replace for 10 or $15, which typically buys a pack of four.   It's quite possible there was a bad run of them that got through somehow, the kind of thing that happens throughout the world all the time, and you happen to hit upon it.

This is what we used to say when I was growing up out in the country.....

"Cut bait and run" means to quickly abandon something that isn't working and move on, similar to a fisherman who, not catching any fish, would stop wasting time and leave by "cutting their bait" and heading elsewhere; essentially, it means to give up and leave promptly."

I have been Model Railroading a very long time now and I have to say that I've encountered the cut bait and run issue more than once. I have a few locomotives that didn't work out for one reason other and they're stored away, being used as parts reservoirs much like old cars in a junkyard.

And, did you say you could "upgrade" to "nickel" track? Does the track you have now have a black road bed?  Black roadbed stuff, from the past, had steel rails which were known to rust and cause problems. If that's what you have, you'd be best off replacing it all with grey roadbed nickel silver track that works a lot better and doesn't have all the problems of steel..... or keep watching your track fail one section at a time till it's all gone.

[Terry Toenges]

Are you sure the rail joiners on that piece are fitting tight and they aren't loose? It is really strange for it to be acting like that.

[Fred Klein]

Sorry, I didn't catch the reference to upgrading to nickel silver track the first time around. Steel rail (black roadbed) has been the bane of model railroaders since the Lionel era. That's why brass rail became so popular during the 60's. My first layout had brass rail and it worked way better than steel, but it still had its drawbacks. As soon as nickel silver rail became affordable and mainstream, I switched and never looked back. Steel rail will oxidize while being stored and it will become dirty much faster than brass or nickel silver. I would definitely make the switch to nickel silver as the budget allows. Hope this helps.

[djs1079]

Thanks everyone.

If I upgraded to nickle track,  it's bachmann ez track the best to go with our are there other brands i should look at as well?  I like the raised bed of the ez track.