12-13-2010, 03:05 PM
Steamtrains Wrote:I checked the gear mesh like you mentioned, and it's OK. The noise is not coming from the drive train...It's from heavy iron rolling on steel rails...
I checked the weight of the engine as it is right now...1 lb.-6 oz. Now that's heavy...
I'm thinking of isolating the boiler from the frame to reduce a little the "sound box" effect the boiler might have...Or milling out some of the material from inside the boiler to bring the weight down some. I don't need so much weight since my "normal" trains won't be but 6-8 cars at most.
I'll do some tinkering today and see what works best....
If the locomotive is well balanced, be careful when removing material from it. You might not only lower the weight, but throw it out of balance as well. Having the weight balanced over the drivers is probably one of the most critical parts of getting a model steam engine to pull a train.