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Regarding this pilot truck problem... Make sure the wheels are in gauge and mounted squarely on the axle (and it sure wouldn't hurt to replace the plastic pilot truck wheels with Northwest Shortline wheels). Make sure all the parts are assembled in the correct direction. The spring is shaped like a cone and the wide end should sit inside a ring molded into the truck. The truck mounting slot is a slight arc which means there is a front and back side to the truck assembly - the arc should "point" towards the front of the locomotive. Replacing the MDC parts should be unnecessary unless they've been damaged. If the truck mounting screw is not square with the locomotive frame, the screw could put unwanted stress on the truck. Adding washers between the truck and spring is likely to be a source of trouble as this would not only prevent the spring from sitting inside ring, but could also introduce strange forces. The weight of the locomotive has no effect on the front truck (adding weight will only increase pressure on the drivers). Adding weight to the front and rear of the truck (i.e. above the axles) might help but should be unnecessary. BTW, a properly weighted model locomotive will balance between the front and rear drivers. The following is unrelated to the pilot truck problem... The MDC 4-6-0 has a fairly long rigid wheel base (distance between front and rear drivers). Blind center drivers or narrowing the gauge of the drivers by 2-3 thousandths of an inch might help this locomotive run on sharper (less than 24 inch radius) curves.
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