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Help with Non Hornby Set


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Hi all,


was at a model rail show today in Dublin Ireland and purchased a B-Man Starter set- the Cambrian Coast Express,

I've set up a little test track to ensure everything works when i got home and it seems the front wheels of the front Bogie on the train do not turn when train is moving, rather drag along the track.

The move freely when turned by hand, its like, for want of a better phrase, not enough weight in the front, can anyone help, guide or direct me to resolve?


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Turn the loco upside down and spin the wheels to confirm they really spin. If they don't thats your problem. If they do, and they spin perfectly upside down, remove the front bogie and push it around without the engine to determine if they run properly. DO NOT LOSE ANY SCREWS.

XYZ

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Hi Choo Choo!

Factor One: The rolling resistance of the axle in its bearing. If insufficient torque is applied, the axle will not turn. Rolling resistance is friction between the axle and bearing.

Factor Two: the torque generated due to the frictional force of the wheel on the rail. The frictional force is a function of the force vector perpendicular to the rail (weight of the boggie, spring force if any, etc).

XYZ's first check: Are the wheels touching the track? In this case, factor two, the torque, is zero, because there is zero force on the wheels perpendicular to the rail. The wheels skate.

Similarly, if the wheels are just touching the track. The perpendicular force vector is low, which generates insufficient torque to turn the wheels. The wheels skate.

Analogously, as the torque generated is a proportional to the perpendicular force, a large perpendicular force generates a large torque.. The torque overcomes the rolling resistance. The wheels turn.

Rolling resistance can be higher if the wheels, the axles and or bearings are dirty. Rolling resistance can be lowered through the judicious use of lubrication, being careful to not bathe the entire assembly in a liter of oil. 🙃

Checking that the wheels turn when you twist them by finger generates orders of magnitude higher torque than would be generated by the wheels on track. That really isn't a terribly informative test.

Either the perpendicular force is too low OR the rolling resistance is too high. Removing the boggie, as XYZ says, will help to isolate the factors.

If the boggie wheels turn on their own when the boggie is pushed along the track, but not when attached to the locomotive, then the locomotive is holding the boggie up, which limits the perpendicular force.

You can experiment by adding perpendicular force (finger press) on the isolated boggie testing.

Clean everything. Gently lubricate. Test the boggie by itself. Report back.

Bee

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Sorry to be pedantic (that's a lie, I enjoy it, my weird sense of humour), but isn't that four-wheeled thing at the front of the loco a bogie, not a boggie (sic). It's not a bogey either, another spelling I've seen, which is one over par in golf, a spectre or phantom, or something you might pick out of your nose.

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Noah Webster has a lot to answer for indeed!!

His time was before railways arrived in the US, but he doubtless had an influence in the thinking of alternatives!

Back to the OP.

I have found several of my own locomotives, which I do try to 'rotate' throughout the years, occasionally have seized front bogie wheels.

On a couple of them, guilty as charged, I may have gripped them too tightly, and they've closed a little - re-gapped, lightly lubed, all's good.

On several I find whatever I, or a previous owner may have used to lubricate has become gooey. A good solvent clean and wipe out followed by a couple light machine oil droplets later, and all's good.

Al.

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Where I come from a boggie is something you might find running around your child’s hair after a birthday party or other occasion when lots of them get into close proximity. Also known as flies or wicks. I don’t think anyone uses the purple paint anymore?

For anyone under about 40 this will make no sense whatsoever!

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@RT

We call them nits. Many years ago when I was at school we used to have a nurse who came round inspecting children for nits. She was known as "nitty Norah the bug explorer".

Talking about trucks, in the UK we call commercial road vehicles "lorries" whereas the Americans (and sadly our Australian cousins) call them trucks, and ones that have an articulated trailer are called "artics" for short, whereas the Americans call them "semis". In the UK a "semi" is one of a pair of houses that are joined together (short for semi-detached).

I think that's enough off topic comments from me about linguistic peculiarities.

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@topcat, we had Nitty Nora and she would isolate the ‘guilty’ on one wall as and when she found them. Shaved heads and treatment usually followed. I can’t remember ever having them but when my kids were young they went through their infant school including the teachers and the infestation seemed to last ages.

To use the correct terms, the actual boggies are head lice, the nits are the white egg sacks that they lay and are usually more easily visible.

A cameo of NittyNora outside a school would make an interesting feature on a layout!

At least I’m young enough not to have been doused in DDT.

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