Maintenance of Scale Model Diesel Locomotives
Written by Daryl Clayton Kennedy on November 30th, 2009
Model train sets today arrive at you door ready to run. In no way does this imply completely dismissing pre operations testing.
In most miniature trains today your engines casting can be easily taken off by spreading cast lugs and easing off chassis.
After casting lugs release chassis, inspect for obvious defections such as bound gears, strange noises, and slower than normal push offs. If your loco isn’t sitting on the track with ease, you may want to inspect your trucks for adjusting.
Cleaning your trains wheels is step one in your plan of attack. Clean wheels lesson the dirt being transferred into you motor and chassis. To perform wheel cleaning hook test leads to motor, start engine, flip upside down, with your free hand place wheel cleaning block onto wheels and grind until sharp shine!
After the Inaugural Wheel Cleaning You are Wise to Inspect for Mechanical Gremlins
Once wheels are clean its time to check your trucks for smooth painless operation. If wheels have trouble spinning and truck is detached then open gearbox and inspect for anomalies. Also take this time to clean parts and electrical surfaces. Lubricate using tiny amounts of lube as trains are small and need not be drenched in liquid slippage.
Make sure you pay special attention to electrical connections while truck is disassembled. A clean connection from track to motor is first carved in truck assembly.
Lastly, Once you are comfortable with your inspection, you should fire up your engine and test her power on your open layout.
Upon testing you locomotive, if by chance you have troubles simply disassemble familiar parts and re check components for functionality. By your earlier cleaning and adjusting of trucks and possible cleaning of gears you may have reassembled something improperly or you may be experiencing a rare case of faulty electronics in your ready to run model train set. By giving your engine the second once over you should quickly identify the culprit and cuff him before he releases any more Gremlins.
Be sure to check out Daryl’s BLOG surrounding model trains, you may also stop in to read thomas trian engine reviews.
This entry was posted on Monday, November 30th, 2009 at 8:19 am and is filed under Recreation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Tags: classic trains, hobbies, model train repair, model trains, Recreation, Trains
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