spectrum rail truck G scale.

[he74301]

My rail truck looks great but has never run well. What is the matter with these little guys? the lights come on OK but the motor just has no guts. It crawls along the straights but stalls at the curves. I would dearly love to see it do a full circuit of my track!

[petertoot]

Well Mr bachmann all quite,no answer from you,you want us to buy,support you,it works both ways when customers have questions thanks

[ricnpat]

This may not be the problem with yours but it is a very common issue with these little Gems.

Take a look here.   http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/dwg/dwgs/Bachmann_Rail_Truck_Gear_Repair.pdf

I would open it up and take a look to be sure then order the parts.

Rick

[Flare]

Those instructions are for the On30 scale rail truck...

[Joe Zullo]

Are you saying the G gauge rail truck is different? 

[Flare]

I'm saying that the disassembly procedure may be different.

[he74301]

thanks to ricnpat. I have taken my railtruck apart and checked the gears as per George Schreyer. At present the motor is not rotating at all so I guess there is a power problem. I think petertoot is close to the mark in that these were sold cheap because they were not up to the mark which is disappointing as it is a great looking model!

[Loco Bill Canelos]

Hi,
If you have an early version, be sure it does not have the gearbox problem mentioned in George's article. Like most items which are track powered the track must be very clean and the wheels as well.  Track must not have any kinks or bad joints or high and low spots.  Tight curves can cause problems as well.  The rail truck being very light often makes the problem worse because it does not press down hard enough to make good electrical contact.  These problems occur with other similar products, even those made by other manufacturers, for the same reasons.  Things like speeders and short wheelbase items like streetcars, have similar problems. 

I find that my railtruck runs fine when weight is added and some conductive lube is added at all contact points and I have just cleaned my track and the railtruck wheels.   I converted one to battery power and radio control eliminating the track power problem and that one works fine even without the weight, and even pulls a trailer.

Since it is apart try putting jumper wires directly to the motor contacts. if the motor runs smoothly then go to the next connection joint and test there and so on til you find the problem contact, then make any fixes as suggested in George's excellent article. add conductive lube to each electrical connection.  After all this is done then try the jumpers to the wheel sets front and back, if it runs OK then try it on the track. if it still run s erratically then the problem is definitely the track.

Items like this do require a higher level of maintenance. 

Hope you get it going!

Loco Bill

[he74301]

Thanks Bill. I will give your suggestions a go. I appreciate your time and trouble in replying.