I love the NS lion-chief gp-20, smokes and runs great. When it arrived I ran it on my middle track and had a ton of fun. Then I made the mistake of moving it to the outer loop on my layout. Not only does it hit the spring on the Ross switch but you don't want to see the mess when it hits the hold down screw behind the spring. Any ideas on this? I don't want to dump the Ross switch and go back to the Lionel 072 but I hate to get rid of the GP-20. Ideas needed!
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Hmm, looks like the pilot is sitting a little low, no problems with your other diesel loco's, I trust?
No, this is the first one to hit a spring or a hold down screw. I have a mix of MTH and lionel locos and no issues till now. I also have a mix of ross and lionel switches- seems I have been lucky till now 
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Well, if you're pretty good with needlenose pliers and a drill, one way might be to remove the switch motor 1/8" toward the the outside. With the smallest drill bit you have, drill pilot holes in the extended ties 1/8" ( maybe 1/16"?)to the outside of where they are now. Not too far so you don't split the ties. Then you could fashion a spring with a paperclip in the same shape as the spring that moves the switch points, just make it slightly longer so that it connects in the hole that's attached to the swivel plate that moves the points.
There maybe other ideas coming, but I've had to adjust the switch motor on my ross switches before, lost the spring...
and had to fashion a new one from a paper clip. Just make sure it fits in the holes, and it's shaped like that for a reason 
. Not necessarily the only fix you could do, but one to consider.
change to a Tortoise switch machine mounted under the table.
I've had this happen before with both Lionel and MTH locomotives. All you need to do is bend the spring down at a 90 degree angle and counter sink the screw hole so the head is below the spot where the locomotive makes contact.
Ill try and take a photo of mine.
Hope this helps.
That is correct. Make your own spring and use the other hole that is in line with the outer screw. If thats not possible then counter sink the sctrw that hits. It's not the engine.
Rod Miller
You can replace that screw with a flat head. Just countersink the hole in the machine (carefully and slowly, its thin plastic). The spring can be bent, or make one from .025 music wire.
alternatively, relocate it by spacing it further from the track and make a longer throw spring, or under mount it. A lot of locomotives hit those screws...
Good ideas and I will try the easy ones today. Nice to have confidence that the countersink won't mess up the switch () and I had not thought of the 90 degree wire bend.
Boilermaker, is the music wire the stuff for guitars etc?
The bent spring and drilled countersink worked. Thanks.
hokie71 posted:The bent spring and drilled countersink worked. Thanks.
Great! Now you can keep your switches and run your GP20 too.
Happy Thanksgiving!
romiller49 posted:That is correct. Make your own spring and use the other hole that is in line with the outer screw. If thats not possible then counter sink the sctrw that hits. It's not the engine.
Rod Miller
I have done what Rod has suggested above. I used a thin paper clip bent to fit. The problem is that the spring is designed to work with Ross Switch's , so it will take a little patience to get it right.
As for the inside screw you can remove it if you place another through the motor housing hole. Be carful not to bare down on it to hard because that could also cause problems with smooth operation of the throw.
Good Luck, those motors are probably the lowest profile on the market. I'm wondering if another like engine has the same issue.
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