Wow! Did I Improve Loco Performance!!

Like some others who have posted about this, I too had been experiencing a lot of loco performance problems related to "gunk" that kept rapidly appearing on a few of my loco's wheels. I would constantly clean the track and the locos only to have the gunk reappear almost immediately (within minutes) and cause the locos to sputter and the headlights to flicker. It seemed to strike only a select few locos and I was beginning to be convinced that there was something about the makeup of those particular loco's wheels that was causing them to rapidly collect this gunk, or that there was some kind of electrical process between the track and wheels that was causing it and that it would never stop. It could not possibly be the track, I thought. I just cleaned it 5 minutes ago!! 4 axle locos seemed to be plagued the worst. And my new 8-40BW's began to have trouble right away.

Then I tried one last ditch effort. I had considered it a remote possibility that somehow my rolling stock's wheels were unusually dirty and transfering enough gunk back on the rails in just one pass and causing all this grief. I began to examine each car one-by-one and noticed that they indeed had a fair amount of buildup on them (I have cleaned them before...but it had been a while). I then maticulously cleaned each and every Micro-Trains wheel over about an hour or two, using Atlas cleaner/lubricant to loosen the thin band of gunk and then my fingernail to dislodge it (technique works good!). After cleaning the track once again, I sceptically ran my train again and expected more of the same. To my delight, the train ran for a solid hour (so far) without one sputter or flicker of any kind! I cannot recall the last time my trains ran at this level of performance!! Perhaps this is pretty sophomoric to some but, if you're experiencing the problems I was, I suggest the the thorough cleaning of rolling stock wheels be included in your maintenance program at fairly regular intervals.

Russ

 

What a coincident!
A have seen similar problem, but it seems that it occur only for one loco (Arnold GP38).
The rest of my locos, Arnold GP9, LL F7, and a
Kato SD40-2 are unaffected (so far).
I have cleaned the track and the loco wheel of the GP38, but after just a minute the problem appear again.

There was a faint string of dirt next to the wheel flanges on all locos, but only GP38 has problem.

I noticed also that the wheels on GP38 looks steel gray but on the other locos they are more
yellowish. Could it be different material on different locos?

Could it be some static matter?

I have not yet looked at the rolling stock, but I will soon.

 

Thanks for the tip Russ! Rolling stock is often overlooked when it comes time to clean.
BTW- I noticed that my Lifelike locomotives are very good at collecting grime, especially those with blackened wheels.

Russ Hoffman

 

I have seen posted else where that painted or or plastic wheels on rolling stock can and do collect more dirt and gunk than the regular nickel silver wheels sets do.

and that if you clean the track and loco wheels to make sure your track and locos stay clean make sure you get the rolling stock especially the plastic wheel sets.

I wonder if the baggy and washing with the cloths washer would bother the metal wheel sets ?

[ 17. November 2002, 18:05: Message edited by: Wolv_Cub ]

 

My layout has been sitting for a while without seeing a train run. Glad this topic came along when it did. This will keep me from almost hitting the fustration level like Russ. Like Paul, I have a lot of rolling stock so I guess it will just have to get cleaned as I decide I want to run it. Thanks Russ for the post.

 

I have had that problem also, some wheel materials must attract dirt more than others! Dirty rolling stock lays the gunk back down faster than a loco!