I have several Atlas N Scale locomotives that are only a few years old that have been running rough lately, and i mean the headlights have been flickering on and off constantly. I keep my track clean with a bright boy and was wondering do i have to apply any lubrication to the inside gears ever so often and what brand and kinds should i use. Would love to hear what you all do to keep em running good and smooth???wink:
i also have some hallmark brand locomotives that barely even run down the track. I have to push them with my finger to even get them to flicker on and off. Is this a sign that they need new lubrication??? or should i just pair them up with a stronger locomotive and hope i can run all the defects out of it...?
It may be as simple as cleaning the wheels. Or as complicated as taking the trucks apart and cleaning the wipers. Check to make sure all contacts are clean and touching. Most of the time the problem can be cleared up easy enough and your locomotive back out and running like new.
I agree with Rick - flickering lights and stalling have little or nothing to do with lubrication. You cleaned the track, but did you clean the wheels? Clean the wheels of your locomotives and also clean the wheels of your cars so you don't redistribute the dirt from the wheels back onto the track. Try some Goo-Gone or isopropyl alcohol. Modern locomotives require minimal lubrication. Do the wheel cleaning first, then get back to us. Chances are you won't need to go further, but if you still have difficulties, we can help you check some other things.
Ahh, Mike...question. Are you aware that Goo Gone leaves a sticky residual? That often attracts dirt like a magnet attracts fine metal filings. A better choice, as you suggested, is isopropyl alcohol as it doesn't leave a harsh or similar residual.
my 3 foot test track seems to get real dirty fast!!! like every 3 days i can wipe black crude off the rail heads. to clean my wheels i a coffee filter soaked with lighter fluid laid over the rail and a 9 volt battery to power the train andrun it back and forth on the filter
I don't use Goo-Gone but people like Jim Hinds of Richmond Controls says it is not true that it leaves a residue. He says apply some to window glass, let it dry. Then see whether you can find any residue. He says the residue that people report is due to the stuff that the Goo-Gone dissolves and that gets left behind in the cleaning process. Be that as it may, isopropyl alcohol is still my cleaning solvent of choice.
I used Goo Gone for a long time and thought it was the cat's meow. The build up got so bad on wheels as well as the track. I finally took the isopropyl alcohol out and cleaned it all off. End of problem. Goo-gone is gone from my layout. Edited add on: The glass inspection isn't as full proof as one might wish. This has to do with what attracts dust and environmental build up in the first place. More to do with positive and negative ions. Apply Goo-gone to a piece of glass and leave it.... four days, check it and you will most likely see the results of the action I'm talking about.
about once a month whether they need it or not i clean my wheels on all my cars and engines. i use 91% alcohol on some handi wipes. to clean the wheels i just run a strip across the track and run my engine and a few cars over it with a dry handi wipe about 5 inches from the wet one. has worked out great for me. for the real stubborn things that do not come off, i will use an exacto knife to pick it off.
I agree that the wheels are dirty. I found the best way to keep the track clean is to run the trains. If that does not work then I have a routine that is described in the track cleaning section on the GD&R website, it uses Goo Gone. What works for me may not work for others. Gary
The flickering lights are an indication of poor electrical connections somewhere. As others have stated, cleaning the wheels should help a lot. You may have to disassemble the loco to clean any contact points inside, like wipers and such. If you disassemble, you might as well clean up the gears and re-lubricate while your at it. Just don't OVER-lubricate or you'll be worse off than before! A tiny drop of oil or small dab of grease is all you need. Use oil and grease designed for model railroading like the LaBelle products. As to using the Bright Boy, you may want to reconsider. Bright Boys clean by abrasion and they can leave microscopic scratches in the rails that quickly fill up with the dirt distributed by the wheels of locos and rolling stock, even clean ones. There goes your electrical contact! I propose using the "Gleam" method. I didn't invent it and I wish I could give proper credit. The Gleam method involves cleaning the rails using VERY fine wet/dry sandpaper or emory cloth, 600 grit or finer. Once the rails are cleaned, use a stainless steel washer to burnish the railheads. The fine sandpaper leaves a nice surface, but the burnishing really smooths out the rails. Use stainless steel only; regular metal washers don't burnish well enough. Finally, apply a very light coating of metal polish to the railheads and polish it in well. Turnouts require a bit more effort, but you'd be surprised how easily little locos gan negotiate the turnouts without stalling! I was skeptical of this process a few years back. I tried it on a little used siding on my current layout. No matter what I sent down the siding, it always worked! Gleaming the entire layout was a 3 or 4 day long process (on a SMALL layout!), but in the end it was worth it. I gleamed nearly two years ago and haven't cleaned the track since. Haven't used the Bright Boy at all!! My layout goes for long periods of time without any activity and it was always frustrating trying to run a train around the layout. After gleaming, no matter HOW long the layout has sat idle, the trains run just fine! I do experience some spots or problem areas from time to time. All I've ever done was apply a little more metal polish and some buffing and I was back in business. I'm working on a new layout. When I get track laid, it will all be gleamed before anything else. I am a fullly converted believer in the gleam method! Hope this helps. Darrell, quiet...for now
Problem Solved! thanks Well I went and bought some Labell 108 Lubrication and applied a small drop to the exposed gears underneith the wheels and amazing this has corrected many of my problems. i even have some old hallmark engines from ebay that are probably 25 years old and never ran before. now they are getting better. One of them a GP38 is running almost perfect. I had a Kato SD45 push it until it started running properly. I have a U-33C that is getting better as well.. I even had an old Life Like engine from my first train set from 1992. This engine was a piece of junk and would have looked great in the bottom of the garbage can, till now! I just applied a small amount of Labelle 108 and now it runs like brand new. I never got around to cleaning the wheels but i may give that a try with my stubborn Hallmark engines. Thanks again, for all the advice..:we2-policeman:
