If you're been reading the Truck Books you may have noticed the info on installation of the power trucks. The following comments come from my personal experiences. This is easier to notice with open frame motors but is true for can motors. Also this info is true for both Wagner and Q-Car or any power trucks. When the motor is run with the armature turning in one direction vs. the other direction the armature will move inward towards the motor or outward away from the motor.
The reason for mentioning this is, over time some power trucks will make a noise when operated in one vs. the other direction. Normally power trucks are shown installed with the gear box facing forward. However, if the power truck is noisy when operated in this direction. Try turning the power truck with the motor facing forward.
Next the question, "Should the power truck be mounted in the front or the rear of the model?" If mounted in the front, the model is being pulled. If mounted in the rear, the model is being pushed. Now lets see if this makes sense. I always tried to have the model balanced. That is, I tried to have the same amount of weight on the front truck as on the rear truck.
Q-Car sells dummy motors which can be mounted on the axels of the trail truck. This will help to bring the model into balance by placing weight in non-powered truck. Either seats, underbody equipment, or car weights have to be added to bring the model into balance.
Why the concern about having the model in balance? Some models weigh enough to go through trackwork without being in balance. However, if the model is very light in overall weight; the lighter non-powered end will not track properly through tight radius curves or spring turnouts.
The gear box seemed to take up less space than the motor's magnet end. The additional space may be needed for mounting a coupler. So this means the power truck has to be:
1. mounted with the gear box facing forward at the front of the model OR
2. mounted with the gear box mounted facing the rear at the rear of the model.
These conditons could help you to decide where to mount the power truck.
When there has been little space for mounting a coupler, especially between cars of a train where there is no need to uncouple the cars, dummy couplers have been used. Also, when there is restricted space for the draft gear, look at what is available from a vendor like Precision Scale Company (PSC) in the way of both regular size and narrow gauge couplers. Some interurban companies used smaller than normal size couplers. For example, the North Shore Line (NSL) used smaller size couplers in its passenger equipment to prevent yardmen from using passenger cars to switch freight cars.
Wagner Ctalaogue No. 3 is next! Cheers,
Ed
Sorry about the white, the "Blog" has struck again!!!!
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