Nicki Frank S - Jerking / Speed Issues

[curtis]

Hi folks,

I have two of the Frank S locos - one, the older 'original' LGB, and the other one of the Marklin runs (21261 and 24266). Both seem to have developed a jerking problem, which makes them sound rough when running. This is disappointing because they're two of my favourite locos. Oddly, I don't recall them *always* having this issue but a more recent development.

This topic has been touched on a couple of times on this forum.

• Anyone bought a Marklin LGB 24266 Frank & Nicki S
• Digitising LGB 20261 Nicki-Frank-S steam tender loco

And the problem stems from the loco and the tender running at different speeds. I've got some time over Christmas and want to look into them to see what I can do to remediate. If anyone has any wisdom before I start relearning what you've already learnt - it would be appreciated.

Some notes, the 21261 has two decoders (can run the loco and the ender independently), but the 24266 has a single decoder.

 

[Gizzy]

I would check the quartering of the wheel sets first Curtis, just in case it is a more mechanical issue.

Also, dirty wheels and skates, especially if these locos have been frequent runners....

 

[curtis]

That's actually a great callout, Gizzy. I did a round of maintenance on them prior to the previous Open Day but worth checking the fundamentals before digging deeper into them to ensure I'm not over complicating this...