Thanks in advance for any assistance provided. I have a brass Forney 2-4-4 works well but it lacks the traction to pull any cars. I've tried Bull frog snot, but I can only snot 2 wheels 2 wheels are needed for contact to the rails. Any ideas would be appreciated.
I'm an N Scaler and wasn't sure what this engine was, but I see that it's small, has two drive axles, plus a pilot axle and a two axle truck under the tender. If the mechanism runs free and the other three axles roll freely, is there any room in the boiler for extra weight? Putting weight in the cab or tender would likely serve to make things worse. It's a neat little locomotive! https://brasstrains.com/BrassGuide/...dder-Railroad-Models-MISC-ROADS-2-4-4T-FORNEY
you aren't going to a get a whole bunch of traction with only two axles grabbing ... you can check to see that the front and rear dead trucks aren't taking too much weight off the main set, and adding some weight in roughly the center of the unit ..
Is it lack of traction or lack of torque? Some old motors in brass locomotives loose power as their magnetic fields fade over time. A new can motor would fix that. If it is spinning its drivers, then it is heavy metal time. Depleted Uranium, Gold, Platinum, Silver or Tungsten. Inexpensive tungsten can be obtained from some of the Pine Wood Derby web sites.
You could also consider the other side of the coin. Real Forneys didn't haul Pullman battleships. Nor is high speed operation realistic for a little tanker. Could you lighten up the cars it hauls?
Thanks everyone ! OK , I have some ideas. Scenario is this is a Edaville homage for Christmas. I have 3 cars and a red caboose lettered out as Edaville. The Forney is the engine I remember from my youth visiting yearly. My HO Forney reluctantly pulls one car, 4 it says no way. Going to toubleshoot to see if its spinning the drive wheels, or if the motor torque is lacking. I don't think the dead trucks are causing issues but then again. Hoping i can get this little guy up and running this fall !
Seems like I remember Ken Kidder as kind of being the H.K. Porter of brass locomotives. They were small and (gasp) affordable. This is a nostalgic project on a couple of levels.
Sent the Forney to a fellow in Arkansas to work his magic. I don't have the time to setup and test let alone troubleshoot. I'd rather a professional get the job done. Again, thanks for all your assistance. I'll post what is done to the engine, and photos after the layout gets setup in the fall.
Even if you aren’t doing the work, the good thing is that somebody is. Trains aren’t meant to be in a display case, so at least you know that this one will run again and not just sit in a box. I think that was a good choice. I can’t wait to see this model run.
