Sometimes you have to shim the guard rail on the side opposite of the problem area. This forces the backside of a wheel to be in a different place, thus moving the whole axle.
Placement of the shim depends on which area needs fixing. Some glue plastic shims, but I used a strip of brass and formed it around the whole guard rail and bent it around the ends and glued it in place.
Others have removed guard rails and installed there own.
Trim by all means! Take care to not trim below the lower flange of the rail. Remember that piece of plastic you are trimming is holding that very short piece of rail in place.
Tom Trigg
Tom,
The derail happens when the switch is in left turn position, so when the car is making a left in to a turn. I ran a truck over the switch and noticed that it hit one of the plastic pieces (the right side) in the middle of the track, so when the car enters the turn its pushing on the right side of the rail and the bigger part of the wheel hits the plastic piece.
Should I file the plastic down? Is this called a frog?
Thanks for your reply,
JJ
Which direction of travel was the engine going? (3 different routes, 1 into the points (either turning or going straight, 2 converging main line, 3 converging branch. If it derails going into the points before going straight or turning then you might have some fouled points. Check to ensure the very end of the points are not bent or flared as this would push the wheel flange over the rail head.
If you have an unmounted truck, roll it back and forth over the frog to ensure that the wheels are not high centering in the frog. If so file down the bottom of the frog.
If you have a track gauge, check to ensure the rails are at the correct separation.
Finished my 159ft L shap oval and having problems with a new LGB switch I bought at the Anaheim Convention Center Train Show for $50, I ran my daughters Thomas engine first to try out the track and it would derail every time it went through the switch, I than ran my Aristo-Craft SD45 and had no problem till I put my track cleaning car behind it and the rear trucks would derail. I took the switch out and put a R3 in its place so I could run a 25 car train with no problem.
Is the switch defective? Or can I only go real slow through it?
Any answers would really help.
Thanks,
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