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I have one of these Lionel 6-11224 E6 Atlantic 442 and it does a bump over switches. I'm thinking short wheel base, but thought maybe the Lionel traction tires are too thick or some such. The wheels are 1.6 diameter inches and the recommended Lionel tire is 1.00 " ID, .046" thick, and .118 wide. I'm thinking I heard that MTH tires are less bulky and maybe better to replace them...does anyone have an MTH part number that can replace them...maybe a bit thinner?

Last edited by cjack
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I have the same problem with a Williams 4-6-2   39.00mm  2.5mm   cut in wheel wheel Williams does not carry tires for unit, so, I found out that Shoe Goo works well 3.7 oz.  care is needed to spread it out, wheels need to be turning very slow to apply,  use an ice cream stick to smooth out, as you fill in the groove, try not to overlap. great traction. 

cjack posted:

I have one of these Lionel 6-11224 E6 Atlantic 442 and it does a bump over switches. I'm thinking short wheel base, but thought maybe the Lionel traction tires are too thick or some such. The wheels are 1.6 diameter inches and the recommended Lionel tire is 1.00 " ID, .046" thick, and .118 wide. I'm thinking I heard that MTH tires are less bulky and maybe better to replace them...does anyone have an MTH part number that can replace them...maybe a bit thinner?

Often a loco does a "bump" at a switch when a driver flange butts directly into the frog, but not enough to derail anything. Wheelbase may - or may not - be a factor.  

I had a Wms sub-scale "Blue Goose" 4-8-4 for a while that would do a real ba-bump through some of my 0-100 GG switches. Took a while, but it turned out to be the frame of the leading roller pickup. It had a sharp corner that was catching a switch component - I forget what - and really jumping. Filed the roller frame's sharp "nose" to a rounder/shorter shape and no more bump.

Just some things to consider.

It doesn't look like the tires are it. Here is a video of the rear driver dropping into a hole where the switch transitions to the turnout. If there were another driver behind the wheel, the engine would not bump going over this. I need to try my A5 and see how it behaves.

 

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I would have been surprised if different tires solved this problem.

Atlas, and especially Ross switches are widely reputed to be the smoothest out there.  In my experience, they are definitely less "bumpy" and less derailment-prone than the Lionel tubular O31 and O72 switches that I grew up with.  So I wonder how Ross and/or Atlas switches support the rear wheel in this situation? 

It seems to me that gluing a thin strip of plastic in a specific part of the flangeway would allow the engineer-side rear wheel to roll on its flange for a short distance, until its tread reaches the frog.  I don't believe that adding this would affect movements through the curved leg of the switch.  Rounding off the frog into more of a "ramp" might be another option.  Please keep us posted on the resolution!

 

Probably too many switches for that approach. I would have to do something on the engine...this is the only one that bumps thru the switches. The A5, 0 4 0, doesn't dip like the E-6. I think that means it's better balanced. I think some weight in the front might smooth the transition over the switch...need to find some weights.

If the engine is not derailing or stopping on the switch, the problem could be worse. You might try a stiffer spring (or stretch the current spring) between the trailing truck and the underside of the cab. This would put more weight on the rear truck and less on the rear drivers. Might better support the rear part of the engine as the driver transits the gap.

MELGAR

I did exactly that. I put about a quarter inch of preload on the real truck spring. I thought that might have been too much, but it seems so smooth now, I'll leave it. While I had it upside down I noticed that the front truck spring was upside down and did nothing (Lionel, eh?). Although fixing that might have been going in the wrong direction, it actually had little or no effect on the issue or the fix other than stabilize the engine a bit. I fixed the front truck first, tried it just to see,  and it didn't change the bump. Then I went after the rear truck and put the preload in. Here's a video...

It's pretty smooth for the most part at all speeds now.

Here's a slow one...

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Last edited by cjack

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