0n30 Forney

[lasse]

This loco stops in turnouts - the problem is that only one wheel in the trailing truck picks up current -
any suggestions how to solve this problem?
regards
lasse

[NarrowMinded]

Can you see why only one of the wheels is picking up current?
is a wheel lifting?

I run a lot of 4 driver locomotives on30 and g scale, to rid myself of pickup issues on turnouts dedicate a car to always run behind the loco and add pickups to its wheels and then add a micro plug connector between them.

By doing this you can crawl through turnouts at very slow speeds without a problem.

NM-Jeff

[lasse]

Thanks for your comments-the 2 screws in the trailing truck are OK and the problem  seems to be to transfer current from the 4 wheels to the motor via these screws
regards
lasse

[Stevelewis]

Your  Forney  should   perform perfectly  on  points ( switches) without   modification  or any additional  vehicles  arranged to provide  additional power  pickup!

I have a number of  Forneys  and all work  fine,  I suggest  you  have   a real  good  look  at yours, turn it upside  down on a pad of   thick foam or similar  to protect  the detail parts, and   use an ordinary  DC  analogue power unit to apply  power to each set of  wheels in turn, this  will then isolate  the  faulty set,  from theron check all the contacts on the wheels  backs  etc to make  sure  that  there  is  good  CLEAN contact.

It is also worth  checking  that  your  switches  are  laid correctly  without   any deviation from the  flat as this  may cause wheels to lose momentary track contact  as  the  go over the  turnout.

Hope this  helps.

[lasse]

Hello Steve
I live in Sweden but have been in Wales lots of time at work-around Swansea-also made a trip on Central Wales railway-not sure if this is the correct name-
'stops every mile- via Shrewbury and to Crew-also up to Snowdonia-a 2´ railway on the way up
Now I am retired -
Forney-you say contacts on backside of the wheels- I can´t find any- connection screws in trailing truck/motor are OK-
How is the transfer of current between wheels and motor ?
Best regards
Lasse

[Stevelewis]

Hi Lasse

Thats  correct  the  Central wales Line  I drove  on a brifge  across it  just  this Morning!
We live  about 50km from Snowdon  but  can see it  from  about  15 KM from  home on a clear  day!

The information I gave you re the Forney from  was from memory!  Mine are  at another friends layout at the moment  I only  have a couple of Mallets and a climax and 4-6-0 here Also a Railbus!

The  power transfer method from the wheels may be a little difficult to see and possibly at the top of the wheel,

On the Railbus  the pickups on the  wheels are   above the  wheels on both power & trailer car  and are quite  hard to find!

Hopefully  someone with a Forney  may be able to take a quick look at theirs and  advise you, in the meantime I will try to contact my friend  and ask him to look at one of mine!

regards  Steve

[Anubis]

Hello Lasse,

The rear bogie wheel current pick up is fed through two tiny (enamelled or lacquered) wires, which look as if they are uncoated. I assume this is to make them extra-flexible as well as insulated.

You will have to remove the body from the frame, which isn't difficult.

If you have a Multimeter, check the continuity between the wheels and the points where the two wires enter the main PCB. I had a bit of a problem there, and had to re-solder one of the wires at this point.

As a postscriptum, I eventually removed the rear bogie and converted the Forney into a 2-4-0 "Victoria" with a small tender. This was due to the more than excessive rear end swing, which kept sweeping following wagons off the track.

Now, after the aforementioned conversion to a 2-4-0, my ex-Forney has never ran or looked better....

(And she c-r-a-w-l-s through the turnouts beautifully...)

[NarrowMinded]

It's been a while but I believe the rear bunker will come off without removing the entire cab/body. just remove the tiny screws under the bunker.

NM-Jeff

[Anubis]

Hi Jeff,

I believe you are right...

Lasse,

As I recall, the rear bogie frame is in two die-cast parts, which are insulated from each other. The respective wheels collect the current from the rails, and feed it to the left and right hand insulated sections. It is these sections that are connected to the PCB via the tiny wires, which are screwed to the frame halves.


Hope this helps.

[lasse]

Hi and thanks for this information-have tried to move the small screws but it did not help-assume the problem must be that current collected by the wheels
is not colleced by the insulated frames and from the small screws and tiny cables-to the motor
regards
Lasse

[NarrowMinded]

Lasse,

You might want to take the axles out of the rear truck and clean the holes out to make sure there is no paint or other junk in there also check continuity between the alxe and the wheel surface.


NM-JEff

[lasse]

Hello Jeff-thanks for advice-all wheels in the trailing truck are OK now-will also replace insulfrog turnout to electrofrog
regards
Lasse