(Resolved) Help with crossover and pickup roller

Kevin the only thing I can think of is maybe there's to much tension on the roller spring. Or maybe the roller is shifting over when going forward. Can you see under the train while it's going over the cross over try using a flash light.

Alex

Those big bumps on the crossover seem like that could be trouble some.

If you can shoot video of it happening, you may be able to discern something from watching it.

Is your crossing of a not too recent vintage? The pictures below show the current tubular track versions, which both appear to be rather different to yours.  I too think that your pickup is falling into the central gap and then coming out with a bump.

It looks like there is some type of "bridge" for the rollers that is missing from the crossover.                                                                                http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-Lionel-90-Degree-Crossovers-1020-102-0-Scale-Toy-Train-Vintage-Collectible-/150877546273?pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item232100a721#ht_702wt_985

The roller is just falling in the gap like you said Nicole.  The crossover is the one I got probably 50 years ago,  There is no upward pressure on the roller and it just falls onto the track and then drops when there is nothing below it.  I couldn't find a small spring or rubber washer to hold it up a bit so I folded a piece of paper a few times and put it between the truck and the roller support to add some upward pressure so it touches the track but doesn't drop so far and it seems to have fixed the problem.  Now to come up with something a little more permanent or get a current crossover. 

Thanks for getting me looking in the right direction, as usually you all make the forum a great asset.

Kevin 

kevin, the way to stop the roller dropping into the space that exists on your crossover is to glue in some small pieces of styrene to fill the gaps. Of course, there must be enough room left for the wheel flanges to go thru  . Once in place, just color them black with a sharpie marker. Even the newer versions could benefit from a little extra plastic----

Just a thought here:  If you only have one roller on that rear truck, you might be able to rotate the roller assembly plate around  180 degrees so the the roller is "Trailing" not 'Leading". It's like "push vs. pull".  Now you are pushing the roller forward, but if reversed, you would be pulling the roller thru the crossover. The assembly just pops out from the truck side frame.

          You say that there is no spring over the roller, but that type of roller plate should have a copper/phospher bronze piece of metal pressing down on it. It can be adjusted to have less tension on it, but caution says to be sure that there is enough to have pressure on the roller and good track contact.

          Another "fix" might be to relocate the roller plate to the front truck, the end by the drawbar that the loco hooks on to. That way, again, the roller would be trailing and the tension on the drawbar might exert additional pressure on the truck to keep it from jumping.  If that is decided, you may have to unsolder wires on the inside and extend them if not enough  wire is available there.  Hope this might help.  Dennis M.

Fec Fan  I think gluing a piece of styrene is probably the best fix so it would look somewhat like the one Nicole posted.  Thanks for reminding me to leave a gap for the wheel flanges, I probably would have forgotten to do that.

Dennis I looked at a couple of caboose's I have with the same type of roller and they are the reversed of these, I guess I've never backed them through the crossing before.  I tried it tonight and they did the same thing. It does have the copper plate for tension against the rail, but if there is nothing below it, the roller falls until it is stopped by the bottom plate of the truck.

Thanks again,

Kevin

Thanks for all your help and advice.  I glued strips to shrink the gap at the crossing and the tenders cross with no issues.  Now to find a black sharpie.  50 sharpies in the house and NO black!

Kevin

Nothing missing. 

This is a Marx crossing, not Lionel.  It was tooled long before MPC designed the 9050-150 Pick Up Assembly/Roller/Bracket in 1971.

The fix looks good to go!