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to a locomotive. I ground the flanges off the center axle of one of my diesels that I could never keep it on the rails. Straights were fine, but, curves were another problem all together. I had this Athearn diesel apart at least a dozen times. Ground down the sides on the trucks, ground out the frame so the trucks would turn more & a bunch of other things. I bought it off EBay brand new for $30.00. It's a NS C44-9W. All my other engines, never any problems.
I almost threw it across the room today before I did the chop job.
It works fine now.
Sounds like the wheels were out of gauge on the center axle but oh well, as long as it works now. Just consider that axle "cut out" as a bad order traction motor
No the wheels are not out of gauge. That was one of the 1st things I checked. It would derail right at the beginning of any curve. I have rerailers on both sides of all my curves & switches & the rerailer didn't work. But, since I ground off the flange on the middle axle it stays on the track. The only reason I thought of this was doing it on passenger cars to turn on a smaller radius. All of my curves are 28" or larger.
I would have tried reaming out the axle end receptacles to improve lateral motion as much as 1/32". Unless your track was uneven, and I accept that your curves are generous, it must be that the middle axle(s) were not designed with sufficient lateral motion for the sharp model curvatures we use.
While some would "dissapprove" of your solution, I've found over the years that making center wheelsets blind works wonders for operation on tight-radius track. Some years ago, now, I kitbashed a number of Mantua steam locos, creating 2-10-2's and a 2-10-4 from 2-8-2 Mikes. There was no way they were going to go around my 18" radius curves...so I made all drivers except the end ones blind. Not only that, but I shimmed the end axles down and the center axles up a few thousandths of an inch so the blind drivers wouldn't catch on the inside of the rail curvatures coming out of the curves. Unless you got right down with your eyes level with the top of the tracks, and light behind the drivers you don't see the gap between the tops of the rails and the wheels.
Why would there be a loss of traction? Did you just remove the flanges or turn the whole wheel? If you just removed the flanges, the wheel would still make the same contact with the rail.
A couple of my decopods have had the flanges removed. They were done by previous owners. I notice no loss in traction.
The only thing I've noticed since I removed the flange is the xtra noise of the wheels on the tracks in the curves. I guess the wheels are slipping a little w/not having a flange to grab the inside of the tracks. This engine has been giving me all kinds of problems, not just wheels. LOL Must be my Demon of the rails. LOL
The area in the inside radius of the "flat" and "flange" interface evidently gives a significant amount of traction in curves. Also, since the removing of the flange is not really that precise, you inevitably remove some face. It is probably a minor amount on equalized trucks, but removing 50% of the flanges (4 of 8 axles) on an ancient 1970s vintage Athearn diesel is going to have some impact.
The only thing I've noticed since I removed the flange is the xtra noise of the wheels on the tracks in the curves. I guess the wheels are slipping a little w/not having a flange to grab the inside of the tracks. This engine has been giving me all kinds of problems, not just wheels. LOL Must be my Demon of the rails. LOL
Well, Removing the flange didn't help. It did for a cpl. days & then it started derailing in curves. So, I ordered 2 sets of new drive assemblies. This engine is the older phase of Athearn & the newer type of axel assy.'s are a lot different. I'll still use the old frame, drive shafts & gear assy.'s. Probably been in by next weekend. I saw 3 new shells on EBay today. 1 AC4400, 1 SD40-2 & 1 Sd45. may bid on them. The bid is only at $16.00 right now.
Remove body. Slide another chassis under body. Chuck old chassis across the room for satisfaction. Enjoy new locomotive that will actually continue to run without problems (hopefully).
Sorry I couldnt resist. Just curious, probably a stupid question, but what if you were to run the locomotive backwards? Too late now but I wonder if it would still have the same problem.
Larry, I'm sorry I just found this thread. I had one of the original dash 9's (BNSF791) that had the same problem. I ground out part of the frame so the trucks would swivel all the way like they should.
Well, I gave up on this engine & made a dummy out of it. I installed the new trucks & it still wouldn't make a curve w/out derailing. I found the shell is made diff. than any of the others that I have. The "L" contact arm on the top of the truck hits the inside of the shell. I bent it almost straight up & then put it back together. Then it hit the driveshaft & wouldn't turn at all. Took the gears out of the old trucks, took the motor out & all drive assy.'s & the lite. I repair a lot of my own engines & a few of my friends & never had the trouble I've had w/this engine. So, no more trouble. I'll use the drive unit & motor on something else.
