Oh bother said Thomas...
This has been the most bothersome set of cars to fettle and get running reliably on the layout. It took a lot of filing and to get the trucks to swivel freely. Then making sure that the Kadee couplers weren't drooping, or the glad hands hitting the rails on turnouts etc. To add to the problems I found that one of the Kadee trucks wasn't settling back to flat, when it moved, on the UTLX car. So I got a new set of trucks out of my reserve and put them on instead. I will have to disassemble the sticky truck and find out what is causing it to behave as it does. I suspect flashing on the castings.
I also took the opportunity to take off the Kadee ASF ride control trucks that I had used by mistake on the SPHX tank car, replacing them with standard AAR double truss, Bettendorf version.
GATX 17638, in particular been extra bothersome. Therefore I've named it "Oily", leader of the tank car gang that seems determined to derail at every opportunity.
Part of the problem is that the front axle on the trucks of these tank cars lies directly over the top of the screw for the coupler box. Thereby being in the ideal place for the axle to foul the screw as the truck twists and turns when riding over any irregularities, or when conforming to curves etc.
For some reason Oily is the worst offender. Initially I found a twist in the frame, which required me to disassemble the model. For reasons that elude me, it remains recalcitrant and a first class derailer. So it tasks me. Therefore I shall pursue this tank car to perdition's end before allowing it to beat me; just to mix Audrey and Melville metaphors in one post.
No comments:
Post a Comment