Poor running problem

[big_ian]

I have a Black Label A4 (Wild Swan) which is a lovely model but is causing me problems on my layout. It is highly prone to stopping/resetting unless my track is spotless and completely level.

I have over twenty other DCC locos which are a mixture of Hornby and Bachmann and they all run perfectly on my layout.

It appears that Wild Swan only has electrical pickups on the tender and then only the first two wheels on one side and the rear two wheels on the other. As these wheels are close together, it means that the slightest variation in trackwork can cause a reset of the decoder. My other locos have pickups on either the drive wheels (Bachmann) or both driving wheels and all tender wheels (Hornby).

I suspect that some kind of "keep-alive" capacitor would help but I am reluctant to try dismantling the loco.

Is anyone else aware of this problem?

[mjb1961]

Hi big_ian ,,,,,I have four of these black labels and at first I experienced the same problem with the mallard ,it would just stop dead and then restart again ,my only advice would be to spend some time going over your track ,make sure it is clean ,I always use meths ,and check for flatness,,I found by doing the above it rarely happens ,I'm a bit ocd over cleaning the track,I E ,,if I run trains everyday I would probably clean the track every day ,,pin down any uneven parts of the track,as with a stay alive ,I'm not 100% but I think the decoder is in the tender so would be easier to get at ,,,,,good look ,,martin

[big_ian]

Hi Martin, Thanks for your reply. I had another go at cleaning and levelling the track and also discovered that the loco's driving wheels do have electrical pick-ups (after I gave them a thorough clean!). It's running much better now ...

[mjb1961]

Hi ,,,,glad to hear you have it running better ,I think cleanliness is the key objective for these black labels ,,,,martin