Diesel Locomotives and Model Train Maintenance

By Daryl Clayton Kennedy

Model train sets today arrive at you door ready to run. In no way does this imply completely dismissing pre operations testing.

More than likely your locomotives chassis will be a snap to release. Seriously... it will snap off once you spread the bottom of the casting.

Once casting is lifted and electronics are exposed, place locomotive on track and trouble shoot for such poor operations as stuttering, binding gears, slow starts and odd noises. Make absolutely sure your trains trucks are resting comfortably. If you notice your train resting uncomfortably it may be necessary to adjust screws or reset truck.

An almost instinctive first plan of attack is cleaning wheels. By purging your wheels of imminent dust clusters, you limit dust entering your motor and bogging down performance. To clean wheels attach test leads to motor, ignite engine, flip locomotive upside down and with your free hand apply abrasive block on wheels until they shine like new!

After the Inaugural Wheel Cleaning You are Wise to Inspect for Mechanical Gremlins

After your locomotives wheels are clean take apart their gearbox and inspect for plastic shavings and also take this opportunity to clean the inside of your gearbox. Once clean and dry, apply lubricant as needed. Be carefully not to apply access amounts as this can lead to the very problems you where attempting to avoid.

While you have your truck assembly detached it's a grand time to clean electrical surfaces within the truck. These surfaces guide currents and their information directly to your decoder.

Finally, once tune up is complete, test your locomotive safely and enjoy the freedom and relaxation of your model train set.

In rapping things up you should be assured that once the above instructions have been followed you and your family will enjoy the fine hobby of modeling even more as you'll have cut your chances of having a really bad day expediently. By adjusting trucks and making sure they rest evenly on tracks and also by spit shinning your wheels for tangent connections you are lining yourself up for smooth rides and historical runs. If for any reason you should encounter problems simply trouble shoot familiar mechanical locations around your loco and test once more. If problems insist, it's not unheard of to have acquired a potentially bad decoder or possibly some other poorly functioning electrical component.

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