malibu43
Active Member
I have an old blue box Athearn GP35 (I think from the very early 90’s, or maybe even very late 80’s). It’s always been a loud runner, even louder than my Athearn GP9. I know that Athearn engines are notorious for being loud and that there are endless pieces of information on the internet regarding how to resolve said noise issues.
However, I just noticed a very specific noise happening in a very specific situation. My hope is that someone here might be able to help me pinpoint specifically where this noise is coming from. That way I can reduce some of the trial and error and amount of time I need to resolve the issue. I have a 6 month old, so time is precious right now!
I’m running my locomotive on an EZ track oval on a 4x8 sheet of ply wood. The turns are 22” radius. When the locomotive enters the turn, I get a very loud buzzing/rattling sound. When the locomotive leaves the turn and gets back on the straight section, the noise goes away. It consistently happens 100% of the time the locomotive is on the turn and 0% of the time it’s on the straight section. This morning, I think I actually narrowed it down to being when the rear truck (or bogey…?) its on the curved section, but I’m not 100% sure. Also the frequency of the buzzing is directly tied to the RPM/Speed of the locomotive.
So, given that this only happens on when the locomotive is in a turn, I think I can rule out any general motor or gear noise. Anyone have any ideas for what I should specifically look at?
I did look at the exterior of the locomotive to see if I can see anything obvious. There is a thin metal piece (sorry don’t know what it’s called) that sits between the inside of the wheel and the truck. On the rear truck, the metal piece is touching or almost touching the inside of on of the wheels. I’m wondering if the wheel is pushed too close to this piece when on a curved rail and that results in buzzing. I may try to adjust the gap and see if that helps. It would be nice if it was that easy, but I’m not getting my hopes up. Taking the shell off is just a PIA since my plow is glued on and will have to be broken off and then eventually glued back on again. Although, I’m sure that’s probably the route I’ll have to go down…
Thanks.
However, I just noticed a very specific noise happening in a very specific situation. My hope is that someone here might be able to help me pinpoint specifically where this noise is coming from. That way I can reduce some of the trial and error and amount of time I need to resolve the issue. I have a 6 month old, so time is precious right now!
I’m running my locomotive on an EZ track oval on a 4x8 sheet of ply wood. The turns are 22” radius. When the locomotive enters the turn, I get a very loud buzzing/rattling sound. When the locomotive leaves the turn and gets back on the straight section, the noise goes away. It consistently happens 100% of the time the locomotive is on the turn and 0% of the time it’s on the straight section. This morning, I think I actually narrowed it down to being when the rear truck (or bogey…?) its on the curved section, but I’m not 100% sure. Also the frequency of the buzzing is directly tied to the RPM/Speed of the locomotive.
So, given that this only happens on when the locomotive is in a turn, I think I can rule out any general motor or gear noise. Anyone have any ideas for what I should specifically look at?
I did look at the exterior of the locomotive to see if I can see anything obvious. There is a thin metal piece (sorry don’t know what it’s called) that sits between the inside of the wheel and the truck. On the rear truck, the metal piece is touching or almost touching the inside of on of the wheels. I’m wondering if the wheel is pushed too close to this piece when on a curved rail and that results in buzzing. I may try to adjust the gap and see if that helps. It would be nice if it was that easy, but I’m not getting my hopes up. Taking the shell off is just a PIA since my plow is glued on and will have to be broken off and then eventually glued back on again. Although, I’m sure that’s probably the route I’ll have to go down…
Thanks.