Discussion related to everything about model railroading, from layout design and planning, to reviews of related model tools and equipment. Discussion includes O, S, HO, N and Z, as well as narrow gauge topics. Also includes discussion of traditional "toy train" and "collector" topics such as Lionel, American Flyer, Marx, and others. Also includes discussion of outdoor garden railways and live steamers.
Discussion related to everything about model railroading, from layout design and planning, to reviews of related model tools and equipment. Discussion includes O, S, HO, N and Z, as well as narrow gauge topics. Also includes discussion of traditional "toy train" and "collector" topics such as Lionel, American Flyer, Marx, and others. Also includes discussion of outdoor garden railways and live steamers.
I have this Athearn SD70 Mac and the lead truck wheel derails on the slightest track imperfection. It is as if the thing does not a just to the track well. Any suggestions on how to fix this would be of great help Thanks.
They had this issue in earlier releases of the Genesis SD70s. Adding weight over the trucks, replacing the trucks with ones from the latest run, or both *should* effectively solve the problem.
Funny you should mention this problem. I just got two from the latest run and they are defective as well.
What I have had to do on practically all of the SD70's,SD70M's,SD70MACS's and SD75M's is:
1) Remove the truck from the frame.
2) Take the bottom plate of the truck off by carefully prying the four small tabs.
3) Slideframes then can slide out.
4) The copper strip is taken off of the sideframe.
5) Carefully file or ream out the three holes in each copper strip a bit so that the axles points will have some room to move up and down.
6) Also do the same for the three holes inside the sideframes or else the axle points will stay stuck in the frame. (No lateral movement)
7) Back to the copper strip. The sideframes slip into a rectangular opening on the strip. Cut the top part of that rectangle off and if there are the two tiny circles on the sideframe that also fit into it, get rid of them as well. (The axles will hold the copper strip in the truck when put back together.)
8)For the part of the sideframe that goes back into the truck, sand it a bit on all four sides so it has some movement.
I soldered the pick up wire to the copper strip instead of having that little black push on clip.
Put together carefully and place the truck on a flat surface (like glass) to see if all wheels are now sitting properly.
It took some time for myself and another friend to figure out what to do. It takes about a half-hour if you work carefully. As far as getting replacement trucks, my friend wrote to Athearn about having all four locos he bought having this problem. They sent him eight replacement trucks. THEY WERE ALL DEFECTIVE!
