Just bought a MTH ES44AC Imperial Diesel which is quite a bit longer than any other engine I have. When it goes through manual O36 Fastrack switches it sometimes will spark as the 2nd truck hits the center of the switch. It looks like the truck is suspended in air (hangs out over the switch) when this happens but it doesn't derail. The end of the table where this occurs is a little warped so the track coming into the switch isn't perfectly flat. I can run it through the switch 10 times without a spark so there is no consistency to this. I have other engines - Lionel GP-7, RS-3, Polar Express kit Berkshire - and none of those spark going through these same switches.
I have a couple of questions. Is this a function of the track not being perfectly level so that the 2nd truck rides up over the switch, or is it a function of the length of the engine? Both? Never sparks on the 1st truck, only the 2nd. Is there something else in the way of a fix I should be considering? And, can the spark damage the engine? The engine doesn't derail and I don't get a short that shuts down the transformer (MTH Z1000).
Thank you for any tips you may have.
