I'm having trouble with the front guide wheels on my 2037 locomotive. I had a couple of directional switches that I swapped out because the wheels would hop off the track when they passed through the switch. Some were OK if they were on the inside loop but would mess up right away on the outside loop.
After a lot of frustration I bought a set on eBay that were nearly new and cut the derailing to about 40% of the time but it was still frustrating. I put a little stiffer spring over the top of the one on the assembly but that didn't help and sometimes caused a complete derailment. I ended up pulling them off and it runs fine except it looks funny with nothing there.
What is the remedy for this?
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On your front truck, using a caliper, measure the distance from where the wheel flange meets the tread on one wheel to the same point on the other wheel (wheel gauge).
Do the same thing to the wheels on the rear truck and compare the readings. You may find there is a difference and may need to adjust the wheel gauge on the front truck accordingly.
Larry
They measure the same. I took the wheel assembly and ran it across the switch and don't feel anything weird.
What track and switches are you using?
Larry
I took a picture but it won't let me load it up
Since the 1122 switches operate on track power, check to make sure the swivel rails are moving all the way over. They may be acting sluggishly due to low track voltage. Turn the lantern by hand to insure the swivel rail is fully over. If this helps, you may need higher voltage to properly throw the switches. That will involve modifying the switches to accept a constant voltage source.
What transformer are you using?
Larry
It's a ZW with plenty of power [ Attachment Invalid Or Does Not Exist ]
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Push the locomotive over the switch by hand and observe the front truck. If it derails, exactly where on the switch does it derail?
Larry
Right where that little metal piece is, it isn't bent or pushed up but right in that area. The exact same place it messed up on the switch before this one. I replaced both switches with this pair I bought on Ebay for too much money but they appeared nearly new. They are in excellent shape but for some reason that left hand switch and my locomotive don't mix.
If you are talking about it derailing on the 'X' shaped piece, you can gently pry it up and take it out. Try your locomotive without that piece and see how it works.
Larry
I had the same problem with my prewar 1668 front trucks and one of my postwar cabooses. I have 10 1122E switches on my layout. There were 2 switches that the 1668 and caboose would derail intermittently as they were going over the bump metal “X”. I removed the metal “X” and they would still derail going over the bump. I took a SMALL ROUND file and filed out the plastic bump in both the straight side and curved side of the switch so there was no bump. It worked no more derailing.