Aerotrain traction issues

I'm curious to know if others are having this problem as well. This was next on my buy list, but now I might put a "maybe" check next to it. I really like the look of it too.

I have a Proto 3 version that is a poor puller and a old Loco Sound version that will pull 10 Aerotrain cars with ease.

I don't have the loco, but the first question to be answered should be just what is "holding the truck off the track?". I have seen a few pieces over the years, always light ones, with roller pickups that do not compress properly (spring too stout or an actual issue or damage to the roller mount/pivot/etc), thereby holding the wheels off the rails.

So, first - just why is the downforce needed in the first place?  

Maybe far-fetched, but I opened mine up and found two issues.  The first is that something got into the gears of the front motor, causing it to stop.  The other is that the rear motor "mount" was broken.  Might be metal rot, but the places where the screws go in broke off so that the top (above the frame) was not longer joined with the mount that surrounded the motor (below the frame).  Not sure if I can get the part.  Waiting for Midge to answer my email.

This is a fairly common issue with this model.  The culprit is the oddball rear truck design.  I had one that the rear idler wheels (little wheels) were not turning freely.  Once I fixed that, I had to do some bending to get everything aligned correctly to get proper operation.  With it all sorted out, it can pull ten of the Aerotrain coaches up the 2% incline at the club, so my job is done.  I have another one I'm going to convert to TMCC so I have one of each command type, I haven't worked on that one yet.

On the loco, I am having trouble with the rear truck jumping the track on turns.  I think the small wheels are running up the rail.  I have lubed them.  Does the rear of the engine need more weight?

JJM, I think it might have something to do with the fact that the wheel assembly cannot swivel, like a standard truck assembly would.  The angle of attack of the wheels on tight curves causes them to ride up the rail.  I would check the gauge of that rear wheel set (maybe too wide).

My Aerotrain rear wheels ride up also a little on tight curves.  Hope this helps.

Chris Sheldon

Thanks, Chris.  The rear assembly does swivel on mine.  And I greased the contact points to make sure it swivels freely.  Stumped.

My first issue Loco-Sound set with one added car runs fine. It may not pull much more but well oiled it does fine. Gunrunner has some good ideas to check....but it can be made to work!

JJM, what set do you have?  My rear car wheel set does not swivel.  It is the MTH Aerotrain City of Las Vegas from about 10 years ago.

Chris Sheldon

I had to do some tweaking in mine to make them work.  The rear truck #1 has a very poor system of bearings for the small rear idler wheels, make sure they turn FREELY or you'll have issues.  Also, bending the truck slightly to adjust the angle of the wheels is critical, small adjustments there will pay big dividends.  Finally, more weight back there can't be a bad thing, I added a few ounces to one of mine, and I'm going to add more.

FireOne posted:

JJM, what set do you have?  My rear car wheel set does not swivel.  It is the MTH Aerotrain City of Las Vegas from about 10 years ago.

 Are you SURE?  I can't imagine the thing running at all if the rear truck didn't swivel.

Thanks, John.  Each of the small wheels is screwed in individually.  When you slightly adjusted them, did you toe them out or in?

I didn't "toe" them anything, I just made sure they rotated freely and lubed them.  My problem was the axle hardware didn't allow them to rotate freely, I added some tiny spacers to make the free running.  Since I bought mine used, I don't know if there was something missing from the factory configuration, but the wheels didn't turn freely when I got it, that was a major issue.  After that I formed the sliding arm to adjust the tracking between the powered wheels and the idlers.  After a few adjustments, I got it to work pretty well, and I could run with a load around the club layout without derailing.

I've toyed with the idea of cutting up a rear truck and making it stationary with no idler wheels as they seem to be the troublesome aspect of the design.  I think the wheels just driving straight should work pretty well on anything but tight curves, but I haven't actually tried it.

Gunrunnerjohn, my Aerotrain does have a swiveling rear Power truck, but the problem with mine is that the rear Coach wheel set tends to lift up and ride up the rail on some of my tight curves.  I will try adding a little weight.  I will also try adding weight to the power car to help pull my add on cars easier as some on this forum have suggested..

Chris Sheldon

I haven't had any issues with the coaches, one thing is they do require lubrication of the axles to get them rolling as free as possible.  The engine is where I had to spend all my time "tuning".  I have about a dozen cars for mine, and once I got the engine properly tuned, it was able to pull them all without issue.  I had ten cars on the club layout with the grades, that worked well too.

Ate the TCA meet, on Columbus blvd, in November, there was a display in the lobby with an Aerotrain running on the outer loop of fastback.  Almost every time the train rounded the curves the power unit's rear truck would derail.  

I have a P3 Aerotrain which I added two more coaches to, and the locomotive does just fine.  

I have a PS/3 Aerotrain as well, it's the one I had to "tune" the rear truck to get reliable operation.  It's just fine now, and it's the one that can pull ten coaches without issue.

Merry Christmas!

I have it running, but it seems to be very sensitive to any uneven track joint.  Mine is a PS2.  Also, there still seems to be some sort of drag on the front truck.  Not sure, but I think it might be rubbing somewhere because I hear a bit of clicking.

Hi

I have the engine running, but the wheels on all of the cars have a lot of drag and lock up over time. I’ve lubricated them and no luck..

Its a brand new set from the latest release.

Sounds like they haven't improved the trucks, too bad.  If they continue to do that, I'd either send them back or fix them.  One way to "tune" them is take the trucks apart, use some polishing compound in the bearing and spin the axle in the bearing with an electric drill.  You'll have to do it for each side.  You can polish just enough off to free them up, then clean them up and lube them, problem solved.  Obviously, this is going to be some work...