Bachmann Baldwin class

[David Thompson]

Well, I have proved it's picking up on all driving wheels and I've increased CV2 to 10 but the problem persists. It seems to be very sensitive to any disturbance such as a minor track imperfection or my accidentle nudge of the board. More noticeable when in reverse. My B2B gauge is 7.63mm and is telling me that the loco wheels are fractionally less than that. Could that be a problem?

[B.Meldon]

If the wheels are clean and all the pickups are working it could well be a track problem.

009 track does need to be laid very well, and to a far higher standard than 00 track. Any kinks, dips or steps in the rail can cause problems.

On the section of track in your photo pay close attention to the isolating fishplates making sure that the plastic is not sitting proud of the rail head or side.

[David Thompson]

The problem in the photos has been fixed, it runs fine through there. There are some suspect parts which would require complete relaying, however I am working on them and getting some progress. I am thinking of fitting a stay alive as well, which would over come the brief stoppages.

[Robin Webster]

One thing I have learnt with 009/HOe in the last 4 years is that the track has to be as flat as possible and without any dips or kinks as Brian has already stated. Even if the loco has 8 wheel pick up, it's easy to loose electrical contact if the track is uneven. I had to relay a fair section of my track because of poor construction.
Robin.

[Stan Williams]

I am now going to sound like Julie Andrews,   Lets start at the very beginning ?

Building a layout,
Construction and using the correct materials is the first vital component, get that wrong and your problems have already started.
Don t penny pinch , to many people use any old scrap thats lying around.
If the baseboard/boards are not straight or level (cut out any dips on the board surface) you can be losing the battle.
So everything has to be correct before track laying.

As others have said, the tracklaying has to be perfect (invest in track setters if necessary).
Get the basics right and you can have a successful model railway.

Stan.

[David Thompson]

I am now going to sound like Julie Andrews,   Lets start at the very beginning ?

Building a layout,
Construction and using the correct materials is the first vital component, get that wrong and your problems have already started.
Don t penny pinch , to many people use any old scrap thats lying around.
If the baseboard/boards are not straight or level (cut out any dips on the board surface) you can be losing the battle.
So everything has to be correct before track laying.

As others have said, the tracklaying has to be perfect (invest in track setters if necessary).
Get the basics right and you can have a successful model railway.

Stan.

Sound advice Stan but this layout was constructed many years ago by others no longer with us and I inherited it as the club was going to put it in the skip. So the track is what it is apart from the improvements I have been able to make without starting from scratch and to be honest 95% of it works just fine. It works 100% with other locos.

I'm going to continue to fettle where necessary and fit a stay alive to the loco and then see where we are

Thanks

[B.Meldon]

Sound advice Stan but this layout was constructed many years ago by others no longer with us and I inherited it as the club was going to put it in the skip. So the track is what it is apart from the improvements I have been able to make without starting from scratch and to be honest 95% of it works just fine. It works 100% with other locos.

I'm going to continue to fettle where necessary and fit a stay alive to the loco and then see where we are

Thanks

Yes it is good advice from Stan.
However, even with all this done you will still find that any new layout will need some minor fettling to get it 100%.
Even now many years after my layouts were built to a very high track laying standard I occasionally find issues that cause minor running problems. When this happens I just sort them out.

Jack Carter inherited an old 009 layout many years ago now that was built by one Brian Dutton and had all handmade track. This had quite a few running problems, so much so in the end we gave up, removed all the track, and re-laid the entire layout with new Peco 009 track.
With a complete scenic make over, new hidden storage sidings, all new buildings and completely re-planned station track plans this layout would become 'Pitztalbahn'.
When Brian Dutton next saw the layout even he did not recognise it to start with! In fact no one did, and this little bit of the layout's history was kept between Jack and myself for many years!

[David Thompson]

Sound advice Stan but this layout was constructed many years ago by others no longer with us and I inherited it as the club was going to put it in the skip. So the track is what it is apart from the improvements I have been able to make without starting from scratch and to be honest 95% of it works just fine. It works 100% with other locos.

I'm going to continue to fettle where necessary and fit a stay alive to the loco and then see where we are

Thanks

Jack Carter inherited an old 009 layout many years ago now that was built by one Brian Dutton and had all handmade track. This had quite a few running problems, so much so in the end we gave up, removed all the track, and re-laid the entire layout with new Peco 009 track.

What the motor trade refers to by "jack up the number plates and replace everything in between"  :)