Yes Dave, I forgot about that option. I did that on one of my HOn3 locos (added a tender with 8 wheel pickup), and it works great. I just added a bit of extra weight to ensure a good wheel contact on the rails.
Simon
snjroyCan you make it pull something, on which you could conceal a keep-alive decoder?
Simon beat me to the suggestion. If you build a small gondola you can hide all sorts of things in it. You could also have the gondola pick up power which would reduce the problem significantly even without a keep alive.
Have a look at my avatar. The gondola actually holds the motor (ex Bachmann N scale 4-4-0 tender). The critter has 12 wheel power pickup.
My critter is HOn30 scale (N scale track) so the same solution won't work for your HO scale speeder, but building a small gon is not beyond the realm of possibility.
If you could find something like these, they would be a good place to start. You could probably install smaller wheels and the couplers would be easy to swap:
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/374027289614?hash=item5715c3840e:g:txAAAOSwc01iXMW4
Power pick up is easy. There are several examples showing how to turn Kadee couple pocket springs or phosphor bronze wire into wheel wipers.
https://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/p/273450/3300669.aspx
You can make your own connecting plugs from these:
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/253102218588?hash=item3aee115d5c:g:PGwAAOxy7nNTU9Fg
Dave
Cheers!!
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
That's a tough one. Can you make it pull something, on which you could conceal a keep-alive decoder?
I have a speeder that I have problems with. When running on the track it stops in turnouts due to the small wheel base. I have insulated frogs. I don’t want to replace all the switches. I don’t believe there is room in the speeder for as capacitor. Any ideas?