Spectrum 2-8-0 problems

[mechanic]

My mother in law bought me a nice Spectrum 2-8-0 a couple years ago.
Its a real nice looking loco but didn't " fit in" on my layout so after a very brief test run she's been sitting on my display shelf.
This past week my main diesel loco (f7) stripped a gear so I figured why not and swapped in the Consolidation in its place.
I wish I had run it more when there was warranty on it as its got a couple of problems.
1. The lead 2wheel truck on left hand radius turn s touches the front frame and sparks are the result. To avoid this temporarily I've removed the lead truck.
2. However the loco when navigating left turns only allows the front right driver wheel to climb up and over the rail sometimes causing a derailment.
She runs fine straight, turning right and backing up, but won't turn left to save her life.
Anyone have any ideas?
Thanks in advance
Eric

[brokemoto]

On what brand of track and what radius curve are you running it?   This thing needs at least an eleven inch radius curve.  I have several of these and they do climb on nine and three quarter curves.  This could explain the pilot trucks' shorting on the frame, as well.  I have never had the shorting problem, but mine will climb and derail on nine and three quarter curves.  Often, the locomotive itself will not start into the curve because the nine and three quarter curves cause the pilot truck to derail.

If you are using nine and three quarter curves from another manufacturer or older B-mann sectional nine and three quarter curves, buy some eleven inch, or greater, curves.   The sharpest radius available on the current E-ZTRAK line is eleven and one quarter inches.  These things will operate on the Atlas SNAPTRAK eleven inch curves.  The more broad the radius on this one, the better for it.  I am aware that B-mann sells fourteen and seventeen inch radius curves in its E-ZTRAK line.  I know that there are others, but I forget what radii are available.

If you are using sectional track, another thing about which to be sure is that all rail joiners are properly aligned.  If you are using
E-ZTRAK, misaligned rail joiners are not uncommon.

The climbing in one direction likely is due to the bias created by the motor's turning combined with the slop in the mechanism and the direction of the forces on the rods.   Not all axles on this one have gears; some are driven by the rods.

Another  thing to do on this one is to make sure that all wheels are in gauge.  The first two runs of this had wheels that were out of gauge.   If you push on one or the other wheels, the drivers will move inward or outward, as needed.  BE SURE THAT YOU HAVE AN NMRA APPROVED GAUGE FOR N SCALE WHEN YOU DO THIS.  Further, take GREAT CARE when you re-gauge the wheels.  The loctite on these breaks easily (ask me how I know this).

Another thing about the first two runs of this one was that they were try-before-you-buy.  Yes, they were stiff out-of-the-box, but if they wobbled, bucked and balked too much, you simply chose another one.  If you got one without too many wobbles and too much balking, you took it home, ran the dickens out of it and got a good locomotive.  These things are good pullers, once broken in.

These are excellent locomotives, once properly broken in.   They do require a long break-in period, but the rewards are worth the time spent breaking in this one.  Mine will creep at two SMPH.   The pulling power is good, as well.   This one remains one of the yardsticks against which all N scale steam is measured.  The other one is the Kato USRA heavy Mikado.


Was it a B-mann F-unit that stripped its gear?  Which one was it?   B-mann did have their "Limited Life Time Warranty" on the PLUS and SPECTRUM versions of the F-7.   Odds are that it is out of its primary warranty period, but, for a reasonable fee, B-mann will send you something else.  I am not sure what they will send you, but if you send an e-Mail to their Service Department, they will tell you what to do.   There is an updated version of this one that has an onboard "smart" decoder.  It runs well, be it on DC or DCC.   If you had the PLUS version of this one, the gears crack all the time.   B-mann did address that problem in the improved SPECTRUM version.   Both the PLUS and SPECTRUM versions of this one are long out of production.   If you have the old "FP-9", suffice it to state that it "had its problems".   I do not know if that one is still in production, but every version of it that I have seen has B-mann's "Limited Life Time Warranty", so I would suspect that B-mann would do something for you, for a reasonable fee,  Again, send an e-Mail to the Service Department.  The "reasonable fee" used to be fifteen dollars, but I do not know what it is now.  B-mann has been pretty good with me about honouring its warranty.

The F-7s and 2-8-0s did run contemporarily on the prototype roads.  The first F-7 appeared in 1949, or so.  Almost all of the large railroads, many of the middle sized ones and more than a few even of the small ones bought them.  While some roads had parked all of their steam by the early 1950s, some did keep it until 1957, 1958 and even up to 1961, for one or two larger ones.  Some of the smaller roads kept steam later than that.  The Canadian roads did keep some of their steam up to 1961, or so.   As the more and more diesels showed up, the railroads relegated their steam to the grungy tasks.  As it was cheaper to have the smaller steam do the grungy tasks, much of the larger steam was the first to go.

[mechanic]

Thanks for the reply.
I'm running it on Atlas code 80 track.  The turns are 11 r . My other loco ran on it fine , but I noticed Diesel's will run much more trouble free than steam in my limited experience anyway.
I do not have a gauge tool, thanks for the suggestion I will have to pick one up.
Yes the diesel is s Bachmann as well. A F9 I believe. The stripped worm gears are part of the replacement truck assy. this site has in the parts section under  part # 9903. That would be an easy fix if the parts were available, lol.
And thanks for the advice, much appreciated.

[James in FL]

Hi mechanic,

We are talking about two different lokie's here, so for the Connie;

Be sure the pony truck wheels are crud free and properly gauged.
An NMRA gauge is one of the must have tools, about 10 USD at most all hobby shops or easily available at your favorite online shop.
My Connie will run on 11.25r EZ Track without problems.
I have seen, read, and heard, of folks adding small pieces of lead to various manufacturers pony trucks, but in my decades in the hobby have never had cause to do it.
I have been very successful fixing this issue, when it arises, by balancing the problem lokie properly.
I have not had cause to do this with my Connie, and to be honest, I have not checked the center of gravity as I have not had any problems.

For the F unit;
Silly question but I have to ask, you're sure it's the worms that are stripped rather than the axle gears cracked?
I believe I have new replacement worm gears for this lokie somewhere in my parts bin, maybe even complete new truck assemblies, but not sure if I have the old or the new versions.
IIRC, there are several different diameter replacement worms for older Bachmann F units.
I will have to take a look.

Measure your worms with calipers and tell me the diameter.
If I've got what you're looking for, maybe we can work something out.