Switchers stalling? Please no.

[FCIN]

At a recent workshop I attended on tuning cars and locomotives to eliminate derailing over less than perfect track, the man giving the clinic said that the "old three point" mounting system that has been "gospel" forever in model railroading doesn't work, never has, and never will because our models are just too light for the physics to work.

Interesting info there Russ! I've always used the "three point" truck mounting method on all my cars because it was recommended as far back as I can remember. Took a few of the cars this evening and adjusted truck screws per your posting and looks like the cars actually move smoother through turnouts and along the track. So we'll just forget the three point mounting. Prototype cars can rock quite a bit from side to side, so a little rock and roll action is just fine, although I didn't observe any. I know from real life experience, that cars in a train moving on rough joined track can rock enough that you can often read the car numbers on the ends!

I had considered trying Lutz' fix on my Athearn GP15 as it has the same problem as his MP15AC, but the truck design is different and can't be modified as shown. Can see that when the engine is on the track, just very slightly pushing the car body from side to side causes the wheels to lift off the rail enough to loose power contact. Look's like my only hope is to find a way to add wheel wipers on the trucks.