Up front - I am not trying to start a flaming thread, but do have a question for someone. I rcv'd my FVM GEVO today and proceeded to run it. A bit noisier than a KATO but run time will probably do wonders for the noise and smoothness. Not bad for out of the box. The problem is that on one curve ( 19" ) the trucks derail at any speed. I have cleaned the rails both flange side and outside and seems to be better. The silly thing is that every other locomotive that I have, including the KATO GS-4, have run over this area for a couple of years with no problem. I have stripped the shell off of the ES44AC and trucks appear to be mounted correctly. Paint would not make any diff. but this is an undec. ( special extra fantasy SP scheme coming for my railroad ). Any suggestion for what I might check next? My rail gauge passes over the area ok. Carl
since i don't have one yet, this is a general suggestion. check the trucks to make sure they swivel up and down, not just side to side, and check the wheels for being in-gauge.
I received mine yesterday and ran them this morning. I am having similar problems as Carl. Both engines derail on the same curve which does not give any problems to any of my other engines. I have done cleaning, various checks and still baffled. In fact I am a bit disappointed especially after opting to buy from FVM instead of KATO. I will wait to hear feedback from others and I will be glad to hear any suggestions to solve this problem. Cheers,
Like terry said-- the absolute first thing to check is the wheel gauge. Do you have a wheel gauge tool? Either NMRA (first choice) or Micro-Trains?
Hi Carl, The first thing to check as mentioned before is the wheel gauge. But you might also look for a bent axle, or a wheel that might be mounted on the axle crooked, so that it doesn't run true. I had a new Atlas engine with a bent axle once and they sent me a new one and that fixed the problem. Buzz Lenander "I saw UP on a flatcar"
One other simple thing that occurs rarely- but does happen in assembly-- one of the axle points might not have gotten into the brass cups.
I had a similar problem about a year ago with my Kato SD70MACs on my hollow core door layout. After getting all of the track done and started running trains, I was getting derailments on a certain curve. Aftre running a mix of Kato and Atlas locomotives, I realized the only locos that would derail were my Kato SD70MACs--every one of them (about eight). Every other Kato loco (AC4400CW, SD80MAC) and Atlas loco (GP38, GP15-1, Dash 8-40C, etc.) would run just fine. When I broke out a magnifying glass, I realized I had a SLIGHT bump in the rail due to a poorly soldered rail joiner. I desoldered the rail joiner, crimped it down tight on the rail flange, resoldered it, and the problem went away. Since this was a temporary layout and the problem went away when I resoldered the bad joiner, I never gauged the track or the wheels. But I did find it interesting that EVERY Kato SD70MAC derailed 100% of the time and EVERY other Kato & Atlas locomotive cleared the bump just fine 100% of the time. Obviously I had a track problem, but the SD70MACS would not tolerate it while everything else would. Jamie
I had a similar problem about a year ago. One loco (I think it was a Kato AC4400) would derail on the certain curve but no other loco did. I messed with the track and the problem went away. Just a finicky situation as it turned out. Now all run just fine. Better take a good look at the area of trackage where this is happening.
Those SD70MACs are a bit grumpy when you have tight turns and are coupled to something too. The long shank microtrains couplers help.
Thanks for the responses. I had checked the trucks and they pivot OK including up/down play. I did not check the wheel gauge. DUH. Should have remembered. I'l check that and also the axles as Buzz suggested. Thanks again.
It sounds like you have a hump or dip in the curve somewheres. The GEVO trucks may be stiffer than the Kato, or maybe a wheelset is out of gauge. When I was at Kato the first engine to have NMRA gauged wheels were the Dash9s and they found all sorts of bad track when they came out. If the wheels are in gauge a 19" curve shouldn't give problems even for a stiff truck. Run the engine slowly and try to see what happens and where when it starts to derail. Charlie Vlk
I have done or checked all of the suggestions to no avail. FVM has responded post haste to my e-mail and will be sending me another mechanism. Very responsive on their part. Thank you FVM.
well now what? Finally got one of the Gevos and I am having the same problem. its on a flextracked area in between joints. I have checked the gauge of everything and looked at it when I runs over the spot at slow speed, it sort of slips off the rail like the flanges just disappear.
One of mine was that way but in reverse it was ok. So i ran in reverse for a hour now it is fine ? My be a bur on a wheel ? Don
When I received my FVM Gevos I too had some derailment problems. As I was unable to find any kinks on the track, I tried running them a very slow speeds and surprisingly they didn't derail. So I kept running them at a very slow speed for prolong periods and the problem seemed to ironed itself out. Weird but true! Cheers,
I am thinking of singing the praises of lo-pro flanges...sarcasticly of course...:tb-wink: "Can Gieco save you money? Can Lo-Pro flanges be...to Lo ?" :tb-wink: I guess what I am asking is...has anyone measured the flanges? Can they be to 'short'?...or the inside edge be beveled to much? Might be the reason the wheels ride up over the rail. Just sayin.... .
I had a similar issue with my Kato six axle locos on as S curve and I tried everything and the only thing that worked was long shank couplers form kato they are included with the locos. I tried the Micro Trains couplers but they don't have the swing clearance like the Katos do.
I have 3 of these fine locos and one of them is derailing. I removed the trucks to be able to turn the wheels by hand and found a wheel on the lead axle of the front truck was moving up and down as it turned. Not sure if it is a bent axle or the wheel drilled off centre. Emailed Matt about a week and a half ago, he replied a couple of days later saying spare axles would be in stock in a few days, so it should be in the mail now.
I'm having the same problem with my fox valley gevo. Only derails when going foward on a left curve. All the wheels are in guage. It appears that the frame halves are not in allignment with one another, no way to fix that really. The front truck doesn't sit flat on the rail. I e-mailed fox valley two days ago and am waiting for a reply. So far this unit has been a real bummer and hopefully they will correct the problems, all future fvm gevo orders by me have been put on hold.
I have 3 of the gevos and 2 of them did the same thing as everybody else, checked everything, track, gauge. Emailed Matt, he got back to me and told me to send them his way. Got them back in a timely manner and now all 3 run smooth and quiet. Give Matt a chance, he will make them right. I have 6 more on order and i have no doubts they will be great. matt stands behind his product. 2 UP gevos should be coming soon. I hope he makes the Demo unit also, it's awsome. Dave
