civil war west point and atlantic set

[112040025]

does anyone have any tips on how to make the locomotive quieter. i have put some grease in the worm drine of the locomotive and it seemed to help but the engine can't puul the whole train without the driving wheels going at a different pase than the rest of the train is going. does anyone have advice on how to make the locomotive have better performance on the track?

[CNE Runner]

I guess a little more information is needed to answer your question. We are assuming that you are running a non-DCC American 4-4-0...correct? For the life of me I can't figure out how the engine drivers could go at a faster pace than the rest of the train. Unless your railroad operates outside of the laws of physics - or (more believably) I am misreading your post - it can't happen. Whatever pace the drivers set (unless they are slipping) will be transmitted to the rest of the train. All I can say is that I must be missing something.

Regarding the "quietness" of the running gear; I think you have covered most of the bases. There could be a mis-alignment from the motor through the gear train. I am assuming this is not a Bachmann Spectrum 4-4-0; but rather one of the less expensive set engines. Unfortunately you usually get what you pay for...

[Guilford Guy]

I believe he means the driving wheels are spinning faster than the other wheels, thus the drivers are slipping. The train may be too heavy, or the grease may have ended up on the treads of the wheels or rails. The 4-4-0's are small loco's thus there is little room for weight. If you, open it up and see if there is any room to add led birdshot. Lessening the length of the train will also help.

[Terry Toenges]

Is the rubber traction tire missing? I've pulled up to 40 old time cars with these engines.

[Terry Toenges]

My mistake. It was 29 cars. Here's a pic of a plain old Bachmann old time 4-4-0 pulling the string of cars. The front half is headed up a 2% grade.

[112040025]

Thanks for the advice on this set. where do you buy traction tires for these engines? i have looks on the bachmann website and i couldn't find it. my engine can only pull five cars out of the six. i have tried everything, i took all the axles offand one problem was that there was cat hair onside every groves of the trucks. i have tooken the locomotive apart once to clean the worm gear of cat hair. is there a way to put traction tires on the front drivers of the locomotive? thanks

[CNE Runner]

My mistake. It was 29 cars. Here's a pic of a plain old Bachmann old time 4-4-0 pulling the string of cars. The front half is headed up a 2% grade.

Terry that is quite a number of cars for a 4-4-0 to pull (plus up a 2% grade). The prototype engines rarely pulled more than 10 or 12 cars at one time. It was because of this that railroads gradually went to larger engines (Moguls, Ten-wheelers and Consolidations). I'd say you have one heck of a locomotive there!

[richG]

This guy might have the proper ones. Email him. He does respond.
http://www.yardbirdtrains.com/YBSMparts.htm

Rich

[Johnson Bar Jeff]

My mistake. It was 29 cars. Here's a pic of a plain old Bachmann old time 4-4-0 pulling the string of cars. The front half is headed up a 2% grade.

Very nice holiday layout! 

[Terry Toenges]

I know they (the real ones) didn't normally pull that many.
I just did that to see how many it would pull after someone else questioned the ability of the little 4-4-0's.
For that layout, I just covered most of it with white felt for Christmas and left openings for the track loop.

[SteamGene]

You might want to check the drivers to see if there is a grove for a traction tire.   Another thing to do is to check the car wheels and trucks for binding.  It's amazing what free rolling wheels will do.
Gene

[Yampa Bob]

Terry, that is a great holiday layout.  I wish we had the room for something similar.