Toy train operating and collecting

Hi,

I have a newer Williams 746 that quit on the rails...only about a year old.

I suspect it picked up and dropped a small stray screw or something somewhere.  Upon closer inspection the main side rod on one side was bent out from the wheels.

Taking the side rod off to try and flatten it, I noticed one front driver was now loose on its axle.  The flywheel motor turns the rear drivers no problem with the side rods off, so the motor and worm are ok.

I put just the main side rod back on, on the other side with no loose driver, and it binds up again.  I wonder if one or both of those rods are now off the horizontal just a hair, binding the whole works up.  OR did that halting event somehow pull the front set of drivers (of which one is the loose one on its axle) a hair out of quarter?  Or both?  The non-loose driver side doesn't look out of quarter to me because they still line up with the main rod screw holes it seems.

I've been running postwar Lionel for 13 years, but these Williams flywheel engines are my first new ones.  Are those flywheel motors strong enough to do that kind of damage against some binding track debris?

 Any opinions would be appreciated.  I suppose I'll order new main rods for both sides anyway.  Mind you, I didn't connect any of the other rods to this point, just wanted to see if the drivers connected to the motor would push the main rods, and they can't.  Bummer.  I've never seen this type of problem before.

Thanks!

The side rods on most model steam engines are made of relatively soft metal and can be easily bent. 

When you say one of the wheels are loose do you mean the wheel has come free from the axle or that both wheels on that axle are no longer in alignment with the other drivers?  If one of the drivers has broken free from it's axle, you may need to send the loco back to Williams for repair.  This isn't just an issue of alignment, the wheel has to stay snuggly fit to the axle to prevent this from happening again.  Either the knurling on the wheel casting may have been damaged or the end of the axle may have been damaged such that the wheel won't stay put even if you get it re-aligned properly.

Hi thanks for responding.

Just the one front driver rotates on its axle.  it doen't come off or seem to want to come off, just rotates freely.  The driver on the other side is fine.

Actually I thought I would just use a little CA glue to take care of that, but after talking to you maybe I'll just leave it to the repair shop.  I do much better with postwar repairs anyway.

Oh well, thanks!