Greetings! and the Marklin 4-6-2 Pacific

New to the board. Been lurking for a few weeks. Howdy from South Texas!

A bit of background. I have several Marklin Mikados and Pacifics that haven't been run in 15-20 years. When I recently unboxed them they were frozen solid. I went through all the HOS clean-up and once again, they run great. They have the older 3-pole motors which don't have a lot of turndown, but they probably operate as good as ever.

My modest layout was destroyed in a move a few years ago. The moving company paid the claim but unfortunately we spent it on other (necessary) things. So for years, the little trains sat idle. I'm slowing building another miniature empire using the new Rokuhan track -- which I think is a great product.

Enough of that. Here's my problem, and a question for anyone who owns a Marklin 4-6-2. The pilot trucks derail at every turn. They are spring loaded to keep them down but have never worked correctly -- even when they were brand new. I've adjusted the tension as much as I can. Anyone have any advice? I hate not being able to run them, but I can't keep them on the rails...

Wish I could help with great detail.

My 4-6-2 was also frozen after sitting for a long while.

Got it working and didn't do anything special on the front truck -- seems to do hill w/tight curves ok: www.zcentralstation.com/index.php?option=com_kunena&func=view&catid=2&id=12928&Itemid=212#12950 .

Hopefully other will be more helpful.

Check the wheel gauge if it is too wide the flanges will pick rail joints on curves at those rail joints where the rail ends were not lined up 100% The wheel flange will hit these rail ends and will flip the lead truck up and over the rail. I used the guard rails on a turnout to adjust the gauge and I also added a small piece of lead fishing weight under the pilot truck.