A sparking Bachmann Ivatt 4MT 2-6-0.

[snowy1051]

I have a Bachmann Ivatt 4MT 2-6-0 that occasionally sparks by the right hand side centre driving wheel and sometimes stops.  If one looks at the engine with the chimney to the right, the sparks appear to come from above axle height and at about 2 oclock inside the wheel area. It only seems to happen on curved track, on straight track there is no sparking. I have no idea of the age of the locomotive, the only clue would be its orignal number, which was 43106. I feel I must add that I have some fairly tight curves on my layout, tho' I tend to keep this one on the straights and medium radius curves. But the shed area has some small radius Peco points. Could the tighter curves perhaps have anything to do with this sparking? Many thanks for any info that could help. I dont really want to take it all apart. 

[Il Grifone]

Without seeing it, it's hard to tell, but it appears that the crank pin is shorting to chassis behind the wheel. The temporary insertion of a sheet of paper would prove the point.

[Butler Henderson]

It is designed for use on setrack second radius curves so that covers all Peco points. Check the pick ups are properly aligned.

[snowy1051]

is this the beginning of the end for this loco?

 

[hap]

As an educated guess - an insulated wheel is touching the body when going around the bend.  Some insulation tape (or even non-conductive paint) positioned against the chassis at the location will probably address the issue.

[DCB]

Bent centre wheel pickup would be my  number 1 suspect.   It should get around 2nd radius curves no problem.