I have two mth dash8 40b dummy engines. The middle wheel on the front and rear does not have flanges causing derailments on one of my fastrack crossovers. Is this configuration of wheels the same on all mth locos. None of my Lionel engines have this issue.
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Most Non Scale Engines with more than 4 drivers are designed this way, it allows the drivers to turn much tighter curves.
Have you got any Lionmaster engines? Those should have the same type drivers in the middle sets.
This is very common to have blind drivers on any big locomotive or in any set of more than two axles in an assembly on a locomotive.
I think a majority of 3-axle diesel trucks have one axle without flanges. All of the ones I have (I just checked all mine) have one set of wheels without flanges, although it varies which axle has the flangeless wheels.
On the DD35 (two four-axle trucks) the 1st, 3rd, 6th and 8th axles (from the front) have flanges, the rest, not)
And I just checked some steamers:
- on the JLC Big Boy, the 1st and 4th axles in both driver sets have flanges, but the middle two axles have blind drivers.
- on the Vision Challenger, the middle wheels of each driver set are blind,
- on the Vision Hudson, the middle axle is blind
- on the MTH European 241.A (a Pacific) the 1st and 4th axles have flanged wheels, the middle two driver axles are blind
- and the most interesting is my Lionel UP 9000 series 4-12-2: only the first and fifth axles - just two out of six driver wheels per side, have flanges.
In fact, I do not own a diesel with 3 or 4 axle trucks that does not have blind drivers, or a steamer with more than two driving wheels a side that does not have some of the wheels blind (flangeless).
These wheels are most likely not why your loco is de-railing if it is.
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