What did you do to your trains today?

Whilst my new UK outline 4-4-0 with the smoke unit is pending a mini power bank, I thought I'll revisit the unfinished tender drive US Mogul to see what new fixes/other changes it needs. Just under 4 cm away from the cab is enough to keep the tender from hitting it on the curves, roughly the same distance I got when I tried fitting magnetic couplings. I'll only have to decide what type of hook or pin to use for the tender front, making sure it will have a decent range of motion and stay coupled throughout.



Also took off the cowcatcher to raise it a bit since it was too low, one of the reasons why the model jammed going one way but not the other. The fake knuckle coupler was thickened with hot melt glue on the bottom, with the cowcatcher's middle bar shortened to reglue the coupler in a more realistic spot: on the inside and not just at the top of said bar. Now it looks more believable and more like a real knuckle coupler, in addition to being less fragile.

Two soldered connections had broken off during the last track test, and both units had occasional derailments; pony trucks can be notorious for derailing, esp. on a loco that's being pushed. My Union Express track is also showing some wear since not all the connections line up and at least one curve is warped; one reason why I'm gradually moving to my own track systems. It still performed better in one direction compared to the other, being able to finish more laps without jamming as much. What makes it get stuck is not the underpowered gearing, but mainly the tender's front wheels derailing or (literally) falling off. Since the wiring for the headlamp and firebox and their on/off button takes up the whole boiler, I'm not sure where I could add weights in the loco to make it heavier if needed. One common design flaw with tender drive models (including professional ones) is an underweight loco being pushed by a heavy tender, which can lead to the same issues I'm currently having. I've been getting less and less satisfied with the model and even thought about scrapping it after the annual group photo, believing the 4-4-0 will outdo it due to its loco drive and higher voltage.