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Improving loco pickups


dave flint

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Hope this is in the right section

 

I'm trying to improve the running of my sons Thomas locomotives. A lot use the common Hornby 0-6-0 chassis (Thomas, Devious Diesel etc) where a copper strip is (supposedly) bent to rub on the backs of the outer wheels.

 

Despite seeming to make contact, I'm getting a feed only on one axle, despite bending the strips so that they appear to make contact.

 

Can anyone advise on a suitable fix - I'm thinking some fine but springy wire that can rub on the backs and be soldered to the copper strip ? I am presuming that I need the stuiff that kit/scratchbuilders use, but don't know what to buy.

 

Any advice much appreciated.

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The phosphor bronze pickups should be OK, but they are very difficult to bend to make good contact without being removed from the loco, or removing the wheels.

 

Make sure the wheels and pickups are very clean. The pickups also make great dust gatherers and also get covered in grease.

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Given most of them a good clean and there is a litle improvement, but not a lot.

 

As I still have to chip a number of them, I've decided to go down the DCC Concepts route with their stay alive function. It won't be ideal, but should improve matters.

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