Question - New to railroading

[msemkiu]

I recently purchased a Lionel GP-7 diesel. I believe it has one motor. I am running it on a small Lionel 0-31 track layout. When I place more than two cars on the engine, the engine's wheels spin. I have cleaned the tracks with alcohol and the track appears clean. I am new train collecting. Does the engine need repair?

Any assistance is appreciated.

[msemkiu]

I recently purchased a Lionel GP-7 diesel. I believe it has one motor. I am running it on a small Lionel 0-31 track layout. When I place more than two cars on the engine, the engine's wheels spin. I have cleaned the tracks with alcohol and the track appears clean. I am new train collecting. Does the engine need repair?

Any assistance is appreciated.

[Roger Bielen]

Welcome to the wonderful, and sometimes frustrating, world of O-gauge railroading.

Since the wheels spin you know the drivetrain is functioning and the problem has to be elsewhere. I've heard there are some engines that are poor pullers but I believe they are from the post post war years.

There are a couple of possibilities, if the engine is a newer model check the wheels to make sure that it has the traction tires in place. These are small rubber bands installed into grooves on one or more of the wheels, they wear and break. If no sign of traction tires check if the drive wheels have any magnetic attraction, if it's a "magnitraction" model it might have somehow become demagnitized.

Check all the wheel sets, unpowered engine and cars, to make sure they are free wheeling, lubricate if nessecary.

I've a GP-7 and GP-9 with magnitraction and they have no problem pulling a string of diecast coal hoppers.

[Roger Bielen]

Welcome to the wonderful, and sometimes frustrating, world of O-gauge railroading.

Since the wheels spin you know the drivetrain is functioning and the problem has to be elsewhere. I've heard there are some engines that are poor pullers but I believe they are from the post post war years.

There are a couple of possibilities, if the engine is a newer model check the wheels to make sure that it has the traction tires in place. These are small rubber bands installed into grooves on one or more of the wheels, they wear and break. If no sign of traction tires check if the drive wheels have any magnetic attraction, if it's a "magnitraction" model it might have somehow become demagnitized.

Check all the wheel sets, unpowered engine and cars, to make sure they are free wheeling, lubricate if nessecary.

I've a GP-7 and GP-9 with magnitraction and they have no problem pulling a string of diecast coal hoppers.

[lionelsoni]

Another possibility is stiff wheels on the other truck of the locomotive. If the locomotive has only one motor, then the fix for this is obvious, to free up the wheel bearings. Postwar GP7s had only one motor. I am not familiar with more modern Lionel locomotives; but if this one happens to have two motors, then I would suspect that one of them is not running.

[lionelsoni]

Another possibility is stiff wheels on the other truck of the locomotive. If the locomotive has only one motor, then the fix for this is obvious, to free up the wheel bearings. Postwar GP7s had only one motor. I am not familiar with more modern Lionel locomotives; but if this one happens to have two motors, then I would suspect that one of them is not running.

[Anonymous]

In regard to magnetraction. To find out if your engine has this feature, place it on your track. Then try to remove it. If there is any resistance to it being removed, then it has magnetraction. It will also tell you on the box. You should also check to make sure that the wheelsets on your cars are rolling freely. That can also cause slippage.

[Anonymous]

In regard to magnetraction. To find out if your engine has this feature, place it on your track. Then try to remove it. If there is any resistance to it being removed, then it has magnetraction. It will also tell you on the box. You should also check to make sure that the wheelsets on your cars are rolling freely. That can also cause slippage.