Glad to hear it !! What you are looking for on these Flyer steamers is anything that will prevent the engine and tender from tracking independently of each other. The tender especially needs a solid footing.
And many different hands have worked on these engines over the years. Glad it worked out !
Paul
Thanks for the reply!
I rewired the locomotive anyways, and wa- la! Problem fixed!
I think the original wiring was too old and stiff, as mentioned.
Yes, all these things Major mentioned. Also, I purchased a 300 that the previous owner had replaced the wiring between engine and tender with wire that was not only too short, but way too stiff. It would not flex enough on curves, and would tip the tender, breaking contact. I replaced the wires, running great now.
The tender trucks may have been bent out of true. I have encounterd this on many link coupler trucks. The trucks probably don't sit level with the track so the wheels do not make proper contact and when going in reverse the connecting bar to the engine forces the front truck to raise and break electrical contact. Also make sure that the axle wipers on the trucks are making contact and are uniform in pressure on the axle.
Hello!
I recently aquired a Gilbert American Flyer #302 4-4-2 locomotive, (version with choo choo, smoke, 4pc metal boiler and sheet metal tender). Everything seems to work fine after a good cleaning and some adjustments, except for the tender. It seems as though its kind of 'wobbly' for some readon, as when it goes backwards around curves the reverse unit cuts to neutral. For some reason, the trucks decide to lose contact with the rails for what seems like a split second as the tender wobbles when going backward around a corner, which then cycles the reverse unit. The weight is installed in the tender, so I know that it's not the problem.
Does anyone know what the problem could be?
Thanks!
PS: It sometimes could cut to neutral when going really fast forward around corners, but its really not that much of an issue.
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