Fixing front roller on Jr Berkshire?

My bet for now is you'll find the pickup lead from the roller in question terminates at a wire nut that didn't quite secure the wire correctly and the roller input is not going where it needs to to power the locomotive. Trace the wire from the dead roller and make sure it is making contact with the other roller and the power input to the electronics.

My guess is spread the pickup arm slightly and remove the roller. clean and polish the roller axle and clean the roller inside with a pipe cleaner and some solvent, then re assemble.

The collector assembly (2 rollers and plate) sit on an insulator pad. One of the screws goes into a brass threaded collar which has the feed wire connected inside. Since it works elsewhere, I doubt if it's the wire inside or the screw connecting it.

I would suspect the misaligned collector (Front)may miss the center rail enough on the crossing to lose power. Gently bend it to align it the same as the rear.

or

If it new, as in "under warranty", call or email Lionel and get a new collector assembly.

Next, check the front roller for free rolling. I had one that was clamped a little too much and it prevented the roller from rolling freely. I inserted a very thin blade screw driver between the roller and the roller frame at the end and twisted it very slightly in various points until enough space was created to allow it to freely roll.

In addition to the roller and roller axle cleaning check the track center rail at the point where the Berk loses power.  There may be a dirty spot where the front roller passes at the same time the rear roller is isolated.

Moonman,

What "key" do you use to make those "arrows" in your picture, please?

And, yes I too have the same problem with my 0-8-0 Lionel switcher. Will check out

your advice.

I had a PRR Berk Jr that was DOA.  Turned out the screw that held the rollers on and passed the power to the guts wasn't tightened all the way.  Be sure to check all screw connections for tightness.  Unscrew it a couple of turns, then tighten it back down until it stops.

Rufus,

I open the picture with Microsoft Paint on a Windows based computer. It has the shapes, colors, text boxes, etc. . Then I save the edited picture. Gunrunnerjohn uses a really nice application with cooler tricks. I can't recall the name.

I use SnagIT by TechSmith, it's a pretty flexible tool.  It does lots of stuff that I never even use.

Fixed it!!! Cleaned the roller, retightened the screws and made sure rollers were straight. I really think the roller had some hard lube in it since it was not as loose as the back roller!  Thanks for all the help!