e-z track turnouts

[Aceman]

hi i have some ez track turnouts and i having so many problems with derailing so i was wondering if there are any better turnouts that i can use with my eztrack

[loathar]

Make sure your wheels are all in proper gauge and your couplers aren't drooping and snagging on your turnouts. THESE are the major causes of derailing on turnouts. I don't think I've ever seen anyone complain about derailing on Bachmann EZ turnouts. They seem to made fairly well. Make sure it's not some other reason before you chuck the turnouts or the problem might continue with your new turnouts.

[timbob]

I have the same problem with one of my Bachmann E-Z track turnouts.  I posted some thing on it and got a lot of good responces.  Just type in Turnout Problems on the search bar on the right.  You just have to scroll down to the one by timbob 

  tim

 

[selector]

Virtually every turnout, whether handlaid or commercially provided, must be tuned.  The commercial ones, such as your EZ-Track ones, usually, but not always, need more.  Those last six words should suggest that there are quality control issues with commercial turnouts, particularly of the snap type.  Too bad, because they cost more than the typical Custom Line or Streamline turnout, and after you have made seven or eight of the handlaid ones, such as Fast Tracks, they are more costly than those as well.

Look for three usual problems.  The points aren't sharp enough, they don't lie flat against their stock rails, often as a result of defective pivots or their mounting on the throwbar, or the guards and frog are not gauged properly to each other.  Occasionally, the frog, all by itself, is the problem, but it would take a whole nuther post to cover all that can go wrong with the frog and what it takes to fix it.

-Crandell

[jeffrey-wimberly]

 I've had such problems with one of my EZ-Track turnouts (I have over a dozen of them on the layout). The problem was with the point rail. I sharpened it a little with a jewelers file and bent the end of the point rail very slightly so it laid against the stock rail better. That fixed the problem. Another thing that causes problems with these turnouts is that they must be flat. You can't have a track coming into it on a different elevation. In other words, if your main line is on 1.5 degree incline where it meets the turnout then the turnout must be at that same 1.5 slant as must be the diverging track. Any change in the incline must be at least one track section away. Don't ask me how I know.

[twhite]

What most commercial turnouts need more than anything, is to make sure that the point rails are flush against the stock rails.  Wheels will 'pick' the points if they are not, and you've got a derailment.  The best cure for this, I've found, is to gently file the top of the point rail so it sits flush against the stock rail.  EZ Track turnouts are not the only ones that need this kind of attention, I've had to do it with my Sinohara turnouts, also.  Any little variation between the point and the stock rail is going to lift your wheels and you've got half the train heading one direction and the other half derailing. 

It's a simple cure.  And it should solve your problems. 

Tom

[wjstix]

loathar

 I don't think I've ever seen anyone complain about derailing on Bachmann EZ turnouts. They seem to made fairly well.

Actually I've seen quite a few posts of people complaining that they didn't like the EZ track turnouts!!

I'm not completely sure why...while testing out ideas for my new layout I bought a no.5 and some track and ran some tests and I didn't have any trouble with it, after powering the frog (which you can do by connecting a wire that comes on the bottom of the turnout IIRC) even my 0-6-0T ran thru the switch with no problems.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

 Most of the problems stem from using too small a turnout for a large loco and/or improper installation. I have over a dozen and only one gave me a problem. It was easily fixed.