Farish 4MT problem

[Wingman mothergoose]

I'm having some problems with my Farish 4MT 2-6-0, the loco and tender don't sit straight on the track when it's running, and it tends to derail on point frogs in reverse because of this. Has anybody had any similar issues with this loco and if so how did you cure it?

[marinerno9]

Hello

I bought one of these locos last year & had similar problems. At the time I looked at any forum threads I could find & it appears that such issues are very common with this model. I understand that it is being re-issued later this year (Hattons website shows it as "pre order").

Some threads I found suggested solutions but these were beyond my technical expertise. If your model is still under guarantee I would advise getting a refund, wait for it to be re-issued & wait to see if the next version is better. It,s a shame as this is such a nice looking model.

George

[Wingman mothergoose]

Any chance of a link?

[silly moo]

 As they come with two different tender drawbars, what about trying the other one? I have a 4MT and the loco and tender are slightly out of alignment but I live with it. The fact that I live thousands of miles away from the UK might have something to do with it too 

I would have a look at the drawbar as a possible source of the problem anyway.

[Wingman mothergoose]

I bought it secondhand, so it only had the longer drawbar.

[Dr Al]

The drawbar (even the short one) is way too long anyway - I fabricated a shorter one in PCB and closed the gap right up (still able to go round tight curves fine).

Cheers,
Alan

[Wingman mothergoose]

Well if you've got the short one and you don't need it.... ;-)

[marinerno9]

Am new to the forum so am not sure if the "any chance of a link" post is directed to me.

To elaborate, on the model I bought the tender swung from side to side whilst in motion, the model is tender driven & the loco driving wheels didn't always turn but skated like a car on ice.

I use kato track & the model would not negotiate right hand points (it was ok with left handed). My technical knowledge is not great but I assumed it was only picking up from one pick up due to the tender being out of line and when this pick up wheel hit the dead frog it stopped.

Hope you can get it sorted,

George

[marinerno9]

Have just realised that when you asked for a link you were referring to the forum threads I mentioned in my original reply. Am having some nasty dental work done tomorrow so that's my only excuse for the brain not being engaged properly (a bit like the model in question).

Try googling in the phrase "Graham Farish 4mt problems" & you'll see some of the threads that I looked at last year. There is also a long thread on this site, look under BachFar reviews, which confirm the problems experienced. It may be an idea to re-post on that link so that the people who contributed will see your post, hopefully you may get some good advice.

Sorry once again but hope this helps.

George

[portland-docks]

i must of got lucky then cos i got 2 and they both run beautifully! lol

[Newportnobby]

the model is tender driven & the loco driving wheels didn't always turn but skated like a car on ice.


George

I have 2 of these locos and, every now and then, get the skating wheels effect. I generally find that lubing the motion really helps

[Wingman mothergoose]

I get that too, I also have that problem with my Farish B1.
I'm more concerned with the loco and tender 'jack knifing'...

[ParkeNd]

Videoing my then new Farish Bahamas showed that the front coupling was hooking under the front buffer even on 12" curves. May be worth removing the front coupling.

Although a newbie myself I can already see that front bogies, which serve no engineering purpose on a model, are always going to be a problem. If they just hang out the front with no weight on them, or don't even touch the rails and just bounce up and down as on my just refunded Mallard, they have not much hope of being pushed along the rails without just swinging to one side.

I would really like a new Prairie, but the front bogie sticks out so much, I would fear that if Dapol was to be the company who make one we would only have a percentage chance of it running without that bogie derailing.

But try the front coupling - Bahamas runs perfectly now - but for 4& hours I would have given it away.

[silly moo]

I agree with ParkeNd, have a good look for "silly" tings that could have gone wrong with the loco, my brand new Farish Tornado had the loco body leaning to one side and a wobbly tender, I didn't want to post it back to the UK so I had a really close look at it under a magnifier. Loco body leaning to one side - caused by the cab fall plate being pushed down, wobbly tender - caused by a lump of dry gear grease under one of the traction tyres. Look out for flash on the plastic parts too. 

I wonder how many locos get sent back due to minor problems not picked up because of the lack of QC.

Back to the 4MT, mine had pick up problems and with Dr. Al's help I managed to sort it out but it is a very fiddly job.

[Wingman mothergoose]

I've not had any pick up issues, but after a quick glance this morning, the tender wheels without traction tyres seem to be really loose and have a large amount of side to side play. Is this normal for motorised tender wheels? I would have thought some play is vital for negotiating curves and pointwork...
Also it seems that I'm missing one of the tiny screws that hold the bottom plastic plate onto the tender, any idea where I might get one of those from? Replacing that might possibly solve the problem.
Or what about moving the wheel set with traction tyres to the front?