Success!

A micro adjustment on something can mean the difference between a locomotive operating well or not at all.  I learned this lesson this weekend.  As mentioned previously, I had three Atlas locomotives that I needed to re-gauge the wheels.  Two went well, but the third posed some issues.  After numerous attempts to re-assemble the truck, the gears would bind up and wouldn't roll freely.  I tried again and again over the period of the weekend.  Every time, I couldn't get it to work.

This morning before work I decided to try it again this time comparing it to known good working truck.  I couldn't detect any differences.  The only other solution I could think of was possibly the metal clip on the side of the truck was pressing to tightly on the axle tips.  I bent the tabs out a little and re-installed.  Instantly the truck rolled freely!  Such a minor modification, but came with significantly better performance.  I guess that is considered the norm in N scale.  You have to ensure your trackwork and equipment are in great condition otherwise plan on enduring a lot of heartache with troublesome operations.

I was so pleased to solve that mystery.  I took another GP7 that was running well, but having some trouble at slow speeds.  I performed the same modifcation as mentioned above and it worked great!  Now, I'm determined to go back through all the Atlas locomotives to check for the same issue.