0-6-0 Switch Power Problem

[Anonymous]

I have two smaller steam engines that always stop at lower speeds on my switches. I have a larger 2-8-0 steam engine that can cross the switches at any speed. Is there anything I can do to the track that will help?

[CHESSIEMIKE]

You don't want to do anything to the track, you want to fix the engines. Swall switchers have a short wheel base. As the electrical pick-up is through the wheels, they have a short area of electrical pick-up. The best thing to do is to add a set of pick-up shoes. I have done this to several of my swithers and stalling on switches is a thing of the past.
CHESSIEMIKE

[Anonymous]

Any suggestions as where to get pick-up shoes and how to install them?

[ReadingBob]

There is one option regarding the track. The dead spot is probably the frog which is usually insulated. If so, you could route power to the frog (provided it's conductive). Doing so would depend upon the type of switches you're using and what you're using to throw them. The power has to be controled so that it's coming from the correct rail based on the way the points are thrown. Just a thought (I ran into this problem as well).

You should compare how many switches vs. how many engines you'd have to upgrade. Correcting the engines does have an added advantage in that you can take them somewhere else to run (i.e. a club layout) and not have this problem crop up again.

[CHESSIEMIKE]

I used Tomar Industries Pick-up shoes. Yhey are listed on page 171 in the Walters HO Scale 2000 catalog (the newest I have in-house). They come with instructions.
CHESSIEMIKE

[Anonymous]

Are these tank engines ? [ If so, the pickup shoes are the only engine-related fix ].
However, if they are tender engines, and the tender is "only along for the ride" electrically, there is another choice. This involves using a pair of insulated metal tender trucks,mounting in opposite orientation, and running two small wires from them to the motor, across the drawbar.I did this with an old Rivarossi 0-6-0 many years ago, using what would now be MDC Roundhouse #2903 trucks, which come with the axle wipers. I wound up fastening the drawbar connection with a 2-56 screw so the wires could not inadvertently be pulled on. Be sure to add acouple of ozs. weight to the tender.This worked quite well, as the tender pickup was on track whenever the engine was on an insulated frog. It also made a difference on "less-than-sparkling-clean" track.regards/Mike

[Anonymous]

Will this work for N-scale?

[Anonymous]

Do they have this for N-scale?

[CHESSIEMIKE]

I am in HO scale so I don't know if they are aviable in N scale, or how well they will work. You can try to make your own, or try to modify a set of Tomars.
CHESSIEMIKE

[Anonymous]

No reason why it shouldn't - most of the later N scale steam locomotives have pickups in the tenders. The problem is getting the juice from the tender to the locomotive. A wire is the obvious solution, but it can stick out like a sore thumb, and it has to be pretty flexible or it can lead to derailing problems.