poor running

[ArcadeAttica]

alrite, heres the deal, about 5 years ago, i bought one of those "train sets in box" for n scale and a couple extra locos and such, and had it running in the simple loop, for about a year.

now, that i finally have some space, i reset it up, and and the engines are running, well, terribly. i checked the voltage and everything, its all good.
i used track cleaner and it helped a little, but still lacking in performance
any suggestions?
thanks in advance
Mike[C):-)]

[Anonymous]

Dump the train set and get some real model trains! Train sets are usually the bottom of the heap in quality, so you get what you pay for. This happens in HO scale, and I imagine the sets in N scale have to be worse because they are much smaller and much more finicky.

Bob Boudreau

[Anonymous]

I'm in HO but I have to cleanthe wheels on my engines from time to time. Also, what kind of track is it hopefully its nickel silver and not brass or steel. Are the electrical connections from power pack to track still good, wiggle them while the engines on track to see if that could be the problem. It can be really frustrating but many of us have had this problem.

Rich

[bluepuma]

I had my set put away over 30 years. Lost my N scale Atlas when the motor stopped on a dead spot, but the headlight stayed lit. My other, I set on a loop and kept it running until it was smooth. Cleaned track with isopropal alcohol, cleaned wheels. It was a heavy Arnold FA2, it had good weight.

The lighter the loco, the less contact it will get with dirty track, wheels or wheel contact wipers.

Just went round with my Lifelike GP38, F40PH and SW900/1200, the last of which are light, very light, suited for checking for clean track, along with the Brilll trolley. Finally got them clean enough, wheels, track, wipers/brushes. Not bad, but flywheels would help the running.

Try not to get alcohol into the side parts, I cleaned wheels with Q-tip and alcohol, ran, cleaned, ran until when I wiped the track ager a loop, it finally came clean enough.

[Anonymous]

First off [#welcome] to the forum.... now it might be nice if we had a little more info on the train set... like the manufacturers of -

1 set
2 extra Locomotives
3 track

my suggestion is that maybe you need to pull the bodies off the locomotives and apply some oil to the bearings on the motor and around the wheel sets to help get those running smoothly again. If you got the cheap bachmann set then I would just suggest maybe replacing all the track with new Nickel Silver track ... there are some really good Locomotives out there now that run 10x better than the older Bachmann stuff.

another suggestion would be for you to try cleaning off the wheels with some brite boy or something because some stuff may have built up on the wheels and they may not be getting a good contact to the rails.

These are just some suggestions I have and I'm sure others will have more.

once again welcome to the forum , this is a great source for all your model railroad needs with lots of years of experience and know how in this hobby.... and don't worry no one here bites.... well they don't bite that hard..... LOL

[grayfox1119]

Mike: You may have bad rail connectors. Seeing you had this set sitting around for quite a while, the connectors could oxidize which is resistive. That means it will act like a resistor and drop some voltage. Mulitply this by many connectors in series, and you have a serious drop in voltage, hence poor performance.

As for the set in general...quality is like buying a bag of oats. If you want nice fresh oats, you have to expect to pay a fair price for them. But if you don't mind purchasing oats that have already been through the horse...........well........that comes a little cheaper.[;)][:)]

[ArcadeAttica]

QUOTE: Originally posted by brclem

1 set
2 extra Locomotives
3 track

thanks for the info
1.) alrite the original set is a bachman (im not using the track), (this engine is actually running the best of the three locos)
2.) and the two extra locos are both life-like (which explains they're suckiness)
3.) and the track is Atlas nickel-silver, black tie

all the wiring is new, execept for the power pack (which god only knows how old)
about half the track is new (less than a year old), the rest was bought in addition to the original set

So basically, your suggestions are to clean, clean, and clean em again till they run good?

It was time to add some engines to my roster anyway
Thanks

[grayfox1119]

Don't forget the rail connectors!!!! These are too often overlooked and can cause big headachs!

[Anonymous]

as greyfox has suggested you may want to make a run to the LHS to pick up a couple Items.... some Rail Joiners and a new power pack.... the Bachmann Power packs are known for being weak... I run a MRC 1300.... cheap model but works like a champ.

[ArcadeAttica]

most of the rail connectors are new, and theres no gap between the rails

I probably should replace my power packs, i believe theyre all lifelikes, but ive been using em for years, so i probably will continue to run em into the ground.
Not to shoot down your suggestion, im just stubborn.[:)]