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4 Responses to Problem With Spinning Tender
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Do you mean the wheels are spinning ? Some model steam locos have the motor in the tender.
If drive wheels are spinning, it may be:
1) There is too much weight of train cars behind the loco.
(Remedy: reduce load.)(or double-head a long train with two locos)
2) There is too little weight in the tender (to give traction).
(Remedy: add weight over drive axles, e.g. steel or copper or lead sheet)
3) There may be misalignment in couplers (etc) causing the tender to lift off the rails.
(Remedy: adjust couplers.)
4) Wheels can slip along axles. Inspect with a magnifying glass, the wheels on the end of a piece of track to see how they look. There are gauges for checking rails and wheels.
5) It takes more force to pull a train uphill or around a curve. All of the above will be useful.
Please let us know if any of these solutions help at all !
Another fault that can occur is the gear slipping on its shaft or a drive wheel slipping on its axle. Remedy, clean and add a drop of super glue.
Another one I have just thought of is if traction tyres are worn/perished they will slip on the drive wheel. Try new traction tyres.
I have an image of the tender spinning like a top – obviously not what you meant. Frank has given you enough to think about but if your loco is tender driven then the wheels are the problem – out of gauge, slipping traction tyres or the axle/wheel joint has let go.