Large Scale Central

Track Tuning Ideas

Track and Trestles
#41

Tuning up the cars helps too, especially if one car is “sensitive” to the track. Check the wheel gauge and make sure the wheels don’t have any wobble and they turn easily. Check the trucks to make sure they can pivot freely. One truck should be able to rock a bit from side to side, but the other one should have very little ability to rock. Couplers should be able to swing freely side to side and have no droop, or vertical slop to them. If you are using KaDees, make sure the trip pins are 1/8th of an inch above the rail-heads.

After tuning up my fleet of cars, the phantom derailments stopped happening. Now when I get a derailment, there is an obvious cause.

http://www.homodeltrains.info/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=1178

edit to add link

#42

I find that with my longer coaches, the problem is not where you think it is.

Typically when a truck is derailing, you look at the track work in the immediate area. You try to shim it and think its good, but the problem persists.

Look at the track work at the truck at the other end of that coach. Often, a bit of tweak in this area has a profound effect on what happens at the other end of the coach. I find that the AristoCraft heavyweights and streamliners, and their caboose, to be extremely sensitive to this.

#43

Todd and sometimes where the car derails is feet down the mainline from the issue too. My one streamline coach is my “acid test” car. If it works, then everything else will work too. It used to climb one flange up onto the rail on the backside of the Gastonville loop, then travel through the loop and derail before the switch. It took a while of watching the car run to figure out where the problem actually was, since it would run a good 10 to 15 feet past the problem before the flange actually dropped outside the rail and started bumping along the ties.

#44

I just finished track testing my Consolidation and AMS Combine with wonderful results!!

After converting the couplers on the combine and tuning the trucks (tightened each screw then loosened a 3/4 turn) I track tested. Only problem was the coupler on the Connie was lower than the combine… It did ok but at the raised area where the root it’s broken the concrete the combine uncoupled.

So I took the bold step of cutting into back of the tender to fit an AMS body mount coupler. However I used a Kadee in the pocket instead. I was lucky enough to get the right size and height cut for a perfect fit. I only had two small screws to attach the coupler pocket to the back of tender. I’m a bit worried this isn’t strong enough and stress and pull will eventually weaken things… So I’ll keep an eye on things.

But I’m very pleased with the results thus far. Now to convert the rest of my AMS coaches…if I have enough Kadees.

Richard

#45

#46

One thing to remember with longer cars. You get into a problem in the track known as track warp. Long cars do not fair well to this condition. Warp is track that changes x-level from one side to the other either in a short distance or longer distance. This puts the car in a twist or bind causing wheel lift and then derailing. This problem can occur anywhere on the RR including curves. Later RJD

#47

Glad to hear its working out for you!

#48

RJD I think that was the issue on a long stretch of track when it was screwed down. I think the screw was causing the track to bind as you’ve mentioned. I would watch the trucks of a car literally lift up with the flange riding the top of the rail to an eventual derail. Unscrewing everything and then basically “wiggling” everything loose has helped tremendously.

Now I can focus on some serious scenery

Richard