Hello there fellow railroaders. My name is Kris and I am a life long model railroader myself. Over my lifetime I got out of trains and a few weeks ago had a wonderful much needed reunion with my passion. I purchased a simple N scale bachmann thunder vally set. A very simple setup, and well I remembered why I Loved this as a kid. Now since then I have started a small layout and also found an older N scale locomotive. Heres the question. The simple Santa Fa loco it came with runs very smooth over my turnouts and all that even at low low speeds. I tried an old school KATO 7003 DE10 and for some reason its a very rough running loco. It doesent like the turnouts for one it looses power at low speeds and also doesn't seem to have the best connection through the rest of the track. Now I'm assuming its not the track due to another much cheaper loco running like a champ. Does anyone have any ideas about this old beast? Now I will say that at full throtle this KATO absolutely fly's to the point where it will fly off the track so its very very responsive at high speeds.
I am not an expert, but my first thought would be a thorough cleaning & lube? There is no telling (since it's used), what kind of life it had with the previous owner. It could have been neglected, and just needs a little TLC. Anyway, I would start there. Good luck with her. I almost forgot, WELCOME and enjoy the site! You are not the only one coming back to this hobby. LOL
Welcome aboard. May be one of several issues or a combo of. The first question would be type of track and how old is the Kato. If the set track happens to be code 55 it may be that the deeper flanges on the older loco are contacting the rail spikes and causing a lifting thus rough running and breaking electrical contact. On the issue of the turnout it may be the difference in a three axle truck versus a two axle truck and how tight the turnout is. Longer three axle truck can bind in a tight radius turnout that a two axle does fine through. Next issue would be the age and use of the older locomotive as stated earlier. Dirty wheels and depending on the age of the loco the contact points where the electricity is transmitted to the motor frame whether through axle cups or wipers. Finally lube eventually gets old and stiff so the gear bearing and meshing points, the drive train bearing points, and the bearings on the motor can effect performance especially at lower throttle settings. A good cleaning and a lightweight gear oil safe for plastics is recommended. I use LaBelle products or sewing machine oil for modern sewing machines with plastic gears as my lubricants.
Looks like that locomotive does not have the needle point bearings. A disassembling and good cleaning and re lubricating with a light oil and possibly something like Atlas Conducta-lube on the bearing surfaces and the places where the split truck frame contacts the locomotive frame, should improve its performance.
awesome thanks guys.. she wasn't used i bought her brand new and only ran her about an hour in total. also. im using bachmann ez track the silver nickel kind with the grey ballast. as for the code i have no idea haha.
Seeing the picture that Russ posted that long three axle truck may be binding some on the turnouts and some curvature thus slowing it down. You state it was bought new but it still could be a lube issue if it has set for a long time in the box. Also depending on the conditions it set in and how long there still could be an issue of some slight oxidation forming on the wheels and contacts. So my starting point would still be a good cleaning and lube. I don't know what the curvature of the set track is but I suspect 9 and 3/4 radius for the curved portions and that may be a bit tight for that three axle truck.
With that design of truck, the wheels are not held in a rigid horizontal alignment as would be on a locomotive such as a Kato PA. The axles are able to slide side to side a slight amount and are more able to negotiate a sharp curve. I would bet it is simply a loss of electrical contact somewhere between the axle/truck frame interface or the truck frame/locomotive frame interface that is causing limited electrical contact from rail to motor.
as for the curve its a 11.25 i do believe its the sharpest bechmann ez offers. at least that's the tightest Ive seen. i want to set a double loop track but only found track above 11.25 which is okay. i want to buy 12.5 and set a loop outside the first one with an X on one side so it will go from one loop to the other by itself. as for a lube ill have to learn how to go about doing that.
