If there is one thing I find exasperating more than anything else in our hobby, whether running DCC or DC, then it is the intermittent fault that seemingly defies explanation. I have a DCC ready Bachmann Thompson B1 loco, which ran perfectly. (Well, usually perfectly as the tender had the occasional inclination to derail.) I made the mistake of thinking it might be a good idea to fit a decoder. Well, I couldn't get the decoder to work, so I gave up on that little task and decided to stick with DC. In the process, I seemed to have knocked the wheels out of kilter, so the loco then wouldn't run properly. On investigation, I saw my mistake. The wheels weren't sitting properly on the frame, and the worm gear was out of sync, so I fixed that. I also then lubricated the running gear and axles with appropriate oil. I now have a loco that runs well for some of the time, but will suddenly grind to a halt for no apparent reason, usually at the same points on the layout - on a curve and two bits of straight track. I checked the power with a track tester, and there are no issues there. My other DC steam locos and DMU work fine over the same bits of track. The B1 can be coaxed back into life with a push (and occasional sweary word) and then will run perfectly for a few minutes, only to repeat the stoppy startyitis. Both the loco wheels and tracks are clean. Any idea what might be causing this?

Posted by John R Walker at 2024-02-02 15:48:55 UTC