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Have you experienced problems with your Polar Express engine derailing on certain sections of track or portions of their layout?  Not so much perhaps with the drivers, as the pilot or trailing trucks.  I've been asked to look into this for a friend who has this problem, but I can not reproduce it.  If you haven't had this problem, but do recall discussion about it either here on OGR Forums or elsewhere, I would also greatly appreciate it if you would please direct me to that dialogue.  Thank you. 

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I had that issue. A couple of things, The engine needs a wider radius curve then what come with the set. Front pilot would derail. Fix was to add a little weight to it as it is to lite. Also the traction tires are to skinny. Causes the drive wheels to slip off the rails where track is not even. It also give the impression that the drive wheels are warped. Fix is wider traction tire. 

Ask him how long ago the wheels got cleaned.....?

I've added a heavier downforce  spring  to counter similar poor tracking on  O gauge Lionel's.

...but now I've read the yahoo page and the issue does seem to be involving a spring. I think your done hunting too ( yahoo pages sometimes can't be accessed by nonmembers. But that link worked fine)

It comes in a full range of basic colors.  Dry time and applying layers to poor splices with "pokers" are the only real drawbacks. But pokers also puncture tubes and tape too. The likely hood in the order listed. Layers will fill over a poker so it never rears its ugly head again. Over tape it's a glue to insure against unraveling. I've used it for about 40 years, off-road and professional electronics settings, it's a must. You can expose a wire mid length for a meter probe, and just dot the hole after.

Reality was I figure it couldn't hurt. The fact that it most cases it adheres to the surface its put on and is form fitting after it dries. I had tested my theory on an old engine and since you can scrape it off it was worth a try. Since I found no issues, popsicle stick sanded down I applied to the Berk. The traction tire only fills up a fraction of the grove on the driver. This filled all of it in with out gaps. The reason I said it needs a wider traction tire. So far no issues with traction or derailments. In hindsight next time I will use the tube version which will be easier to apply.   Same principle how others had used frog snot for the same thing on O scale engines.

Sgaugian posted:

I think I may have found what I was looking for https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/g...tions/messages/77193 Let me know if you're aware of any additional information on this topic.  Thank you.

I fixed mine by changing the conical spring to one that is used by Gilbert on the front trucks. It isn't as strong as the Lionel one and I left it in the upper position as the original was. It now has just enough tension on the drawbar without lifting the rear wheels on the trailing truck.

 

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