Lionel Hobo Sounds Car Derailing on Curves

A betting person says likely, the wiring to that truck is pulled too tight inside the car preventing the truck from twisting compared to the body of the car.

Again, my first guess is, that truck cannot twist left or right easily- most likely due to wiring or something hitting a under body detail.

I wish this was the case, but the trucks rotate loosely with no feelings of tightness or drag. I ran it again tonight. It made 4 or 5 loops around no issues, then everything stopped and it was derailed again right where the track starts to straighten out. I'll try to look at it more tomorrow.

I have a couple of these neat cars, they run fine on my layout, the minimum curves are 072. If it were mine, I’d get with the dealer for a replacement, or, call Lionel fir a return authorization RA, and have it fixed correctly. They have a year warranty. Good luck.

The only thing I can suggest is an experience I had. It was a passenger car (can't remember which style coupler) Anyway on my 054 once the coupler was pulled past a certain angle it would put so much pressure on the truck it would derail, even at slow speeds.  It was rare going forward but much more pronounced in reverse.

I was trying to add some rollers to a truck and had a similar issue. Looking at the sideways view of the roller, it appears to reach below the wheels. Is the spring on it really flexible so that the roller doesn’t lift the wheels too much, thereby not making contact with the rails?

Guys I believe I found the culprit. This car runs just fine on my O42 and O32 curves. There's a slight defect on the outer curves. I believe it must have happened when I was moving to my new place, and the layout must have been knocked around during transport. The rails have some warped spots and this car seems to be extremely sensitive. The wheel lifts up over the rail causing the flange to ride up over the rails. I guess the solution is to get a couple of new track sections. The real question is why is this car so sensitive? I run a combination of MTH, Weaver, Atlas, and other Lionel cars.

There's not enough play in the bolster.

The car should be able to rock side to side a bit with the wheels staying on the rails.

I'd take the shell off of the frame and back the  truck mount screws out a little and see if that frees up the trucks.

@RickO posted:

There's not enough play in the bolster.

The car should be able to rock side to side a bit with the wheels staying on the rails.

I'd take the shell off of the frame and back the  truck mount screws out a little and see if that frees up the trucks.

Thanks, you are correct! I loosened them up enough until they began to wobble. Problem is solved.

I’m happy to see your problem solved, (The Track), actually, this has been my experience, each item I purchase to operate on my layout, (072-0120) curves, Gargraves, Atlas O, Ross, has its own unique issue…some Locomotives lose sounds, some simply stop on switches, each item has to be tweaked to work correctly. If I had chosen Lionel tubular track, 072 and greater, there would have been less issues, but still not perfection. This was a good topic. Happy Railroading Everyone…