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R30271 Fowler


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Does the derailing occur in both directions and when running light and/or pulling a train? On plain track, on points, or randomly?

Have you checked the back-to-back measurement of the bogie wheels which need to be 14.5mm if you are using Hornby track, and is the bogie able to pivot freely and fully?

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I must admit I have a few of the old ones of these, I haven't got round to fitting a decoder to this one yet. Usually they are ok, but I suppose a lot depends on your layout. I notice on mine the steps are an added extra (on the old ones they were pre fitted) , so have you added them and is it possible the bogie hits them on curves. Back to back spacing on the bogie is the favorite, it could be it gets stuck on the chassis. My decoder comes soon, I will try my one out to see if there is an issue.

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I have found a decoder in another loco that I fitted and surprise surprise my one derails, only occasionally. I have 3 of these (yes I know it is excessive, I built most from bits after I had to fix one) and they all work perfectly. I have checked the gauging and that measures the same as the others. I have a relatively new one R3404 which I bought new and that seems to be exactly the same as R30271 except it is black rather than red and that runs perfectly. It might be the wheels on the bogie. I have a spare bogie with different wheels, I will see if that makes a difference. As far as I can tell LT&SR_NSE it all looks the same as R3404. I will change the bogie and let you know.

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It is either the bogie bolt or the wheels, the replacement bogie works perfectly. I will leave it to run for half and hour then I will start looking for differences on the bogie. My first impression is the bolt may be too thin but I will compare once it has finished running.

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Well the wheels don't help they have a thinner flange but the main issue is the bolt they halved the diameter. Replaced it with the older bolt and it runs much better. Also I found increasing the back to back spacing on the rear bogie by about 1 mm seems to fix it completely. I tried the back to back before, but I think the bolt is the major culprit. I don't what you do about that?

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After all that it still derailed but not so often, it was even worse with coaches. The final fix for me was to change the washer underneath the nut that the bogie bolt screws into. I think it is too thin so stops the bogie moving properly. I replaced it with a thin copper one and that seems to have fixed it completely, so it may well be that is all that is needed or use a thicker silicone washer. I don't know if Hornby has changed from the one fitted to R3404 or whether it just that the supply was different, either way it seems to work for me. I don't want to dismantle R3404 so I will leave well alone. Trouble is it is one of those things very difficult to find, so on a perfectly level track probably no issues. I am sure I have done this fix before, perhaps that is why the other locos run alright.

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