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9 Responses to How to Increase Engine Pulling Power
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Most likely not much. If the wheels slip there is not a lot to do about it. Some are too light and the wheels slip, adding more weight above the drive wheels can help but most of these engines don’t have any more room to add more weight. Ones that you might see work well are usually heavier Brass engines and that is why they do better. If the motor in your engine is a lighter duty engine then adding very much weight to it will most likely wear the motor out quicker. If the engine slips then maybe teaming up 2 engines might be the answer rather than adding major weight to it. Changing to DCC will only do the same thing as Standard DC from Newman
Have you considered adding traction tires to the locomotive. I have a problem with a HO/OO Hornby “Mallard” class not being able to pull any sort of grade with 5 passenger coaches attached, without spinning the drivers. I am hunting for a set of traction tire drivers for it so this might be a solution to look into.
Had same problen with one of mine I tried frog snot, worked great One thin coat worked great
The addition of traction wheels will help if your engines arn’t so equiped, However finding traction wheels for your engines could be difficult as a lot of manufactures didn’t make that an option. Have you also considered consiting (adding engines together]?
Teaming up engines even with a short train can look pretty good. In DCC I currently have a 30 foot auto rack and auto parts train with 3 diesels teamed up and they do well on a train that long with minimum grades involved. A lot of friends team up the steam which look real good.
In DCC teaming up your engines means consisting them so that any engines teamed up (consisted )will do what the lead engine is told to do. It is best to team engines that pull about the same or they will jerk and yank at each other’s couplers. In DC there is not much choice in engines that pull differently. You are stuck with what the throttle or transformer puts out. There an even pull is what you want between engines. from Newman
!st. What kind of steam engine is it? 2, Who made it? 3, How heavy is it now? Ever heard of a product called Bullfrog Snot? Use a round toothpick and apply a very small, thin layer of b.f. snot to one or two drivers. You’ll be surprised how much that will help. Try to make sure the drivers that you coat aren’t power pick-up wheels.
Most locos have a motor that is overpowered, that is, the wheels will spin if it is held back (rather than stalling).
Traction is most simply increased by adding weight to the loco. This means the loco wheels “stick” more firmly to the track.
Use lead sheet or lead shot (sometimes called “liquid lead”). If you have a big spool, a number of lengths of thick solder can be used.
Open up the loco and find spaces inside to fit lumps of lead.
Lead sheet can be cut and stacked, lead shot can be glued in to any suitable space.
If you are so inclined and equipped, lead can be melted and cast to suitable shapes.
(There are also very low melting point modellers alloys that can be used, Field’s Metal or Wood’s Metal.)
Keep the weight balanced with respect to front and rear of the loco.
Lead and some modelling alloys are toxic, so minimise contact with skin and wash hands after use.
Slow running for shunting will also be improved by using a PWM controller instead of a simple variable voltage DC unit.
Bullfrog snot works best if thinned 50% with water and applied with a very small brush. I have a 2-8-2 that allowed 3 times the cars up a 3% grade after applying it to 2 axles. Track pickup is loco one side and tender the other side of the rails. Love it!