Everything on model trains, model railroads, model railways, locomotives, model train layouts, scenery, wiring, DCC and more. Enjoy the world's best hobby... model railroading!
Atlas GP40-2 Problems
Dean has HO scale and asks:
“My Atlas GP40-2 runs ok until I ask it to pull some cars. The motor runs but it won’t move along the tracks. What’s the likely cause?”
Please add any suggestions to help Dean below this post.
SUBMIT YOUR QUESTION
Perhaps loss of traction? Try cleaning your tracks with Isopropyl alcohol. clean the surfaces of the drivers on your locos, too
Remove the body and try pulling cars and see what is happening. It sounds like a gear might be cracked and is slipping on the shaft.
First off, without the loco attached, make sure the car(s) move freely on the track. If they don’t, solve that issue first. Then,with the loco back on the track and the car(s) attached and power applied, look closely at the wheels on the loco. You state that the motor turns but do the wheels? If the wheels are slipping, maybe there is too much drag from the cars (too many cars, too much drag from cars that don’t roll well, or too heavy a total load).
seems likely that the drive axle gears have cracked, an easy fix but annoying. Replacement gears are readily available on online sites. Preventing this in future if I have a long train I do like the professionals and have extra locos in consist. To check this is the problem hold one wheel and try to turn the other on the same axle
What I would do is remove the shell and see if a shaft is slipping inside a cracked gear.
Good suggestions above. How old is the loco? Some of them have rubber traction tires. Over time, they get hardened and lose their grip. If they look shiny, that is a good clue. Replace them.
Look at your wheels to make sure there is no dirt deposits. I use a Woodland Scenics Tidy Track Roto Wheel Cleaner.