Modeltrains2021
Active Member
Hi i have a mantua prarie and it stops and goes every couple seconds what could solve this?
Mantua 2-6-2 prarie stopping and going
- Thread starter Modeltrains2021
- Start date
Modeltrains2021
Active Member
By taping on it or moving it a little
dennis461
Well-Known Member
Sounds like dirty wheels. Google ways to clean model train wheels.
Modeltrains2021
Active Member
Im going to look at that today and have my friend work on it in a few days
D&J RailRoad
Professor of HO
Turn the throttle off and it will stop going completely.
As the model will run, sometimes, that tells me you have a good electrical path to the motor.
The real question I have is; does it have a decoder in it and are you trying to run it on DC or DCC?
trailrider
Well-Known Member
Definitely clean the "hot" (right side) drivers and the "hot" (left side) tender wheels. Also, I would remove the tender trucks and clean the pivot surfaces between the tops of the trucks and the contact surfaces on the tender chassis. You might want to think about adding electrical wipers to the tender axles. I can't recall who makes these, but you can make some from some .005" brass sheet. Just need to punch holes in the wiper for the pivot screws to go through.
The biggest obstacle with steams is the poor electrical pick up in older models. If you want to really make it bullet proof, then install all wheel pick up on the tender and drivers. It will probably require changing the wheelsets on the tender trucks (to get metal wheels) and adding wipers on all wheels. I use Mantua camelback 0-6-0's for my switcher fleet, I've done that to all of them and they work great. It is a lot of work though.
Railtwister
New Member
Make sure all pickup wheels are clean and shiny, and also clean where the trucks are screwed onto the tender. I’ve had several Mantua locos and when the contacts got dirty they would run erratically. The one exception was one of them had a very thin (almost like a foil) corrugated copper washer between the tender trucks which were steel, and the tender frame, which was die cast. This loco always ran smoother than the others, and I suspect the reason was these copper washers, perhaps there was a chemical reaction between the zinc and steel that prevented good contact, which the copper prevented.
I recently have tried a conductive grease called No-Ox ID on some locos Athearn switchers whose steel contact straps weren’t providing consistent contact, and difference it made was amazing. Perhaps a tiny dab on the truck-tender frame mounting posts would help your loco. I stress the words “tiny dab”. Also, a small drop of “Never Stall” oil from Daylight Sales on the tender axle points would help contact, as well.
Good luck,
Bill in Ft. Lauderdale
