new 4-8-4 with some minor issues

[ericw95]

Hey guys, I just got a new 4-8-4 and let me first say it is pretty awesome for a $100 loco. Runs great slow as well as fast, and it also can pull a good amount of cars. I am having a few issues that I cannot seem to solve, however. First, the front wheels of the pilot are not making contact with the ground, and this creates some stalls with the loco. Second, the loco keeps sparking around the copper pickup near the pilot and shorting out. Finally, the loco cannot handle any sort of turnout (even just goin straight through) and has trouble making it over a rerailer without stalling. Any solutions to these issues, and are they common with this model?

I am using atlas code 80 track if that makes any difference. Let me know if there is any other track that it may run better with, because i was thinking about getting kato unitrack in a few weeks. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[David Leonard]

It might make a difference whether you have the N&W J 4-8-4 or the Santa Fe type 4-8-4. I kinda think it must be the latter. Looking at mine (and guessing) it may be that the pilot truck is screwed in too tightly. there should be play enough for all wheels to hit the rails. The shorting out, on the other hand, may be the result of one of the pilot axles positioned incorrectly. Both insulated wheels should be on the engineer's side on the loco.

[Albert in N]

The nice thing about Bachmann (as well as Atlas) is that they have a warranty department.  They also sell parts.  If your northern front truck is not an easy fix, send it back to Bachmann and they will either repair or replace on warranty.  If it is outside of the warranty period, they will still take care of it for the modest posted price.  My Bachmann Santa Fe northern 4-8-4 and my prairie 2-6-2 front pilot trucks and trailing trucks are easy to adjust by simply turning the attachment screws.  You can back out the screw all the way to check the tension spring and reassemble.  Bachmann includes a good diagram of the parts with their locomotives.

[ericw95]

Alright, ive got those issues fixed and it now appears the only issue is the cylinder. Whenever i run it on low power, the locomotive jerks as one of the rods seems to wobble inside the cylinder itself. Would i br best off just replacing the entire cylinder or trying to fix it myself? Also, would this loco run better on atlas code 80 or kato unitrack? If i get more atlas, i will not be ballasting.

[David Leonard]

I'm guessing here, but maybe you could try applying a bit of lubrication to the rod that goes in and out of the cylinder. As far as track goes, I doubt that there's any noticiable difference in performance with this loco between Unitrack or Atlas C80.

[ericw95]

I tried lubricating the cylinder, and it helped the jerk a little bit, but it still does not run smoothly. I tried soldering the joints and it was a great improvement over simply using the rail joiners. I think I will try using atlas code 55 with peco turnouts for an "improved" layout knowing what I know now through reading books and webpages.