Ok I am really new at this

[Anonymous]

I got myself a model train from my brother when I moved into my new house. He apparently inherited it from a friend and he didn't have the room or time to set it up. I have no idea what kind of track it is or what kind of train or anything like that. It's a CN rail engine and the only thing it says on it is Bachman China(on the bottom of the engine). I set out the track on my basement floor just to see if it all worked and to get an idea for a layout and such before I do anything more permanent. I tried it out and found that the engine derails quite a bit when hitting one specific turn. It's either that or the current isn't running well through that particular piece of track and is causing the ngine to stop. I'm really not sure. What I was wondering is if there is a way to clean the track. It has been sitting around collecting dust for quite a while. Should I use anything special to clean it? Or is it a problem with my engine? If you need some more info I can try my best to explain better. Thanks for the help in advance.

Joe

[daan]

Hi and welcome aboard. Probably your engine is a h0 or N scale model, since bachmann doesn't produce 0 models. Both scales are signifficantly smaller then 0, and both scales have more problems.

But with clean track and clean wheels it should run fine. The tracks can be cleaned with a bit of electrocleaner and a cloth. You also could use an eraser for pencils to clean your track a bit. Wjile in the process, check the small clamps on the end of the tracks to find out if they clamp well enough on the next section of track.

You'll find much more advise and help on the "model railroaders" forum, which is more dedicated to your sort of trains (size and construction) then on this board. Here we discuss mainly 3 rail 0 gauge models, which are signifficantly bigger and have a complete other drive and track system then the 2 rail smaller scales.

I hope you'll find your information and have fun watching the train run.

[palallin]

Hi and welcome aboard. Probably your engine is a h0 or N scale model, since bachmann doesn't produce 0 models. Both scales are signifficantly smaller then 0, and both scales have more problems.

 

Not to pick on you, daan, but Bachmann DOES make a complete line of O scale trains:  their On30 line, and Verynewatthis may have some here.  They do run on 2-rail, HO gauge track, but they are O scale and loads of fun.

 

Verynewatthis:  Could you give us some more info, such as a more complete physical description?  We can be more help if we get more info.

[cnw1995]

If it's lettered for Canadian National, I'll bet it's HO or N though.

[palallin]

If it's lettered for Canadian National, I'll bet it's HO or N though.

 

Very true!  I missed that part.  Mea cupla!  Still, the more info the better we can help.

[Anonymous]

Hmmm more info....Ok. The track has two rails, that I know for sure. The clamps that hold the track together may be the problem as some semed to be a little looser than others. If I take a pair of needle nose pliers and tighten them up(squish em a little bit) would that make the connection a little better? Probably. The track pieces are solid plastic with two rails for the cars to ride on. It says Bachman China EZ-Track on the bottom of the track. The throttle switch that came with it is rated for N or HO model trains and is made by bachman as well.

That's about all the extra info I can think of right now. I will try the eraser idea and I will check my track connectors. Thanks again for the help.

Joe