I got my new Legacy A5 a few weeks ago and finally had a chance to give it a test run. I quickly found that it would not make a single loop around my layout without stopping several times. When the engine stops, it complete loses power. After checking into the problem here is what I found...
The 0-4-0 has both back wheels with tires. That leaves only the front two wheels for ground. The engine center rollers are tied to the tender center rollers via the tether. There is no ground connection shared between the engine and tender. The issue is specifically with Ross switches. Ross switches use a plastic frog. When the engine is running very slow it will stop when it hits the frog. There is enough electrical resistance that the single wheel looses connection when the other wheel is on the frog. If I increase the speed of the engine, I can get it to go through the switch.
This made me check Lionel tubular and Fastrack. In both types, Lionel has a metal strap in the frogs (tubular) or the frog is metal (Fastrack). This would allow the A5 is have both wheels grounded when running through the switch.
My smallest engine to date has been an 0-6-0 and I never had any issues running. But the 0-4-0 has quickly found a problem with Ross switches. I'm sure that keeping the track very clean with help (which I have not done yet) and running faster gets past the problem. Running slow is a no go when crossing Ross switches. Now I need to find a way to add a ground wire from the engine to the tender so I can fix the problem.
