An original Williams SD45 has always had a habit on curves of the pickup rollers, one of which mounted on each truck, falling in between running rail and center rail, derailing loco on its way through the curve. The truck is 6 wheeled, with 4 flanged and driven wheels toward the ends, with a pair of unflanged and undriven wheels toward the middle of the locomotiv, and mounted a greater distance from the middle wheel set than the middle set is mounted from the pair of wheels on the ends. one of the rollers is mounted seperately in each truck toward interior of loco, not toward the ends.
the Williams unit is derailing on 042 curves in O27 track, as well as Marx 034's
the design appears to mimic the Lionel FM train master but the Lionel FM's dont show the problem.
Need I add all suggestions appreciated?
I don't think there's much you can do about it. I checked a Williams catalog from 2012 I've kept for reference purposes and Williams calls for a minimum 031 radius curve for their SD45 model.
Sometimes you can get away with running 031 minimum curve models on 027 track, but not always. Short of replacing your six wheel trucks with four wheel trucks from another Williams model I can't think of anything else you can do.
At one time Williams did offer four wheel power upgrade motor and truck sets for their diesel dummy units, part number 00241, but whether they'd fit an SD45 or if they're even available anymore I don't know.
They also had an upgrade motor kit with an unflanged (blind) wheel on the end of the truck instead of the middle that DID fit the SD45, part number 00242, that might solve your problem if as you say the blind wheel on your SD45 is in the middle of the truck, but I don't know if it's available now either. You'd have to check the Bachmann on-line catalog and go to the "Williams by Bachmann" section to find out.
Sounds pretty bad if that roller is managing to foul on curves broader than 0-31! What a pain, I haven't worked on these but my initial thoughts are that if you can't change where the blind axles are, can you modify the pickup rollers to be wider? I think that some manufacturer must have made a wider pickup roller, maybe you could somehow swap a part or a whole of one in to broaden the width that the roller will make contact with. That's my best idea besides what Flintlock said about trying to swap where the blind axles are. If you had the tools, you could potentially pull and swap some wheels to fix things, too.-Ellie
"Unless bought from a known and trusted dealer who can vouch otherwise, assume every train for sale requires servicing before use"
Flintlock76 if as you say the blind wheel on your SD45 is in the middle of the truck
Rob
The curves are 042 in 027 profile. I know the width of each rail is slimmer, so yields a wider distance between center and running rail, but I didn't expect I'd have to be concerned about that dimensoon; I thought only the curve radius would be important. I wonder how Gargraves or Ross 042's would be.
I have a Williams SD45, but have not experienced the errant pickup roller issue. One solution to your problem is battery power.
I had the same problem with running my 2321 on O27 curves. The pickup rollers were so far from the flanged wheels that they fell off the center rail. A much better arrangement is to put each roller close to an axle with flanged wheels. You can do this easily on the Lionel model simply by rotating each pickup's base by 180 degrees. Is this possible with the model in question?
Bob Nelson
Never ever thought about that. I'm usually too engineering timid to alter anything in that way.
I did once take the (metal) horns out of a 1954 Buick century and replace the stock (Plastic) ones in my 1965 Chevy Impala. Much better sound! What a car! 327 engine.....but I digress.
What a great idea. I'll check it!
Prefer to know exactly what I'm doing here. Was hoping roller removable from bottom but head of screw is on top of truck. how do I get access to that surface. Do I have to remove motor from geared truck? How do I do that?
Can someone who has the Williams model help Stuart out? As I mentioned above, what I have is the Lionel 2321 Trainmaster.
I've got a Lionel Trainmaster myself, but I do have some Williams diesels. I'll have to open one up and see for myself. I doubt they're all that different.
I'll get back with what I found later.
stuartmit Prefer to know exactly what I'm doing here. Was hoping roller removable from bottom but head of screw is on top of truck. how do I get access to that surface. Do I have to remove motor from geared truck? How do I do that?
I don't have a Williams SD45, but I've got other Williams diesels and this is how you remove the pick-up roller on the one's I've got, in this case a GP9. My Williams Sharks are the same.
1) Remove the shell.
2) With the shell off look at the truck/motor assembly. You should see a wire on the top of the truck (red on mine) with a small-headed phillips screw holding it to the truck. This is the pick-up wire. Removing the screw (it's a long one) will free up the pick-up roller assembly for removal. There's a soft spacer plug that the screw passes through so don't lose it.
3) If you want to remove the motor itself there's a large phillips head screw on the bottom of the truck. Remove the screw and the motor will come off easily and will also free up the truck for removal.
I hope this helps.
Thanks v much. Will try that to reverse orientation of rollers and hope to remedy problem
You're welcome!
stuartmitThe curves are 042 in 027 profile. I know the width of each rail is slimmer, so yields a wider distance between center and running rail, but I didn't expect I'd have to be concerned about that dimensoon; I thought only the curve radius would be important.
Actually the width of the gauge is same for O and O-27 size track regardless. I assume what you have is like the old K-Line track that had a variety of diameter curves (like 42" diameter) using either O-27 or the O-31 size rail.
stuartmitI wonder how Gargraves or Ross 042's would be.
I had a layout using Gargraves in my old house, and I had a Williams FM Trainmaster that had the same trucks as the SD-45. (I believe the Trainmaster and SD-45s used the same trucks, motor, chassis etc. - you could swap the bodies out apparently, though I never tried it.) Even on 72" diameter curves, I had lots of trouble keeping it on the rails. It was especially testy on any slight kink in the curve, or if the track dipped at a joint.
Unfortunately, I never did work out a solution.
For the time, I'm no running the loco things to do on my trains and take this locomotive apart. I suppose at some point though, I will, and see if I can be successful in reversing the rollers and getting it back together. Then will see the proof in the pudding!
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