I don't understand why my 4-axle loco keeps derailing around one curve. I measure the radius as 21" (from the edge of the foam sub-roadbed to the middle of the cork roadbed). Thati is about the same radius elsewhere.
The transformer (for DC) is about 6' away from the curve in question. The train pauses close to the point of derailment. I add more power and it soon derails. Why? Should I put another set of feeder wires nearby to avoid needing to increase the power to compensate? I tested the loco by moving it w/ just my fingers forward and it handled the curve just fine in both directions.
Can anyone pls offer suggestions?
TIA!
Lee
Cheak the gauge, sounds like your tight.
Check the curve real close. It might measure 21 inch radius in one spot but kinked in another. Another thing to check is the level of the rails. Does the loco lean outwards or inwards? Then check the gauge of the track and axles of the loco. An NMRA standards gauge is very valuable tool to have.
Pete
I pray every day I break even, Cause I can really use the money!
I started with nothing and still have most of it left!
It does sound like your curve radius might be tighter than you think it is in at least one spot (so, yes, it could be a kink), or that one the track dips or rises undetected along the curve. I don't know what else it could be, unless you have a high tie for some reason that is hooking the trip pin.
Is there a rail joint right where the engine derails? My guess is that the joint is mis-matched in height on one side.
Does the engine do this when it's running by itself, or only when pulling a train? Check the coupler clearance with the next car. If you're pulling a long passenger car or autorack with body-mounted couplers, you may be hitting the stops with your coupler swing.
Other than that, just run the engine very slowly over the problem spot. See if you can catch where the wheels start to tip up and over the rails. This could also be a problem with the engine, if the trucks don't swing freely, or there's a tight wire insided that causes them to tilt up or down when they get a bit off-center. Or, it may be that the outer rail of the curve is dipping down just a bit.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I have (had, hopefully) several curves on my layout where trains would constantly derail. It turned out that, because the curves were on inclines, the outer rail was actually dipping low and allowing the leading truck / driver to slip over it. I shimmed up the outside rail using basswood, and that cured the problem.
My gut feeling says that just ballasting over these shims would be fine, and it would never show, but I'm wondering if that will cause problems later. Obviously, this is much easier than ripping up the track and redoing the roadbed. Any thoughts?
Connecticut Valley Railroad A Branch of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford
"If you think you can do a thing or think you can't do a thing, you're right." -- Henry Ford
CTValleyRR My gut feeling says that just ballasting over these shims would be fine, and it would never show, but I'm wondering if that will cause problems later. Obviously, this is much easier than ripping up the track and redoing the roadbed. Any thoughts?
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
I have two tools with which I would not part. A NMRA HO guage, and a small triangular shape two direction level from Lowes. You can just slide the level along the rails and nip those problems in the bud.
One of the more experienced posters in here minimizes kinks by sliding the rails in flex track so that the left and right rails do not join across from each other. I am sorry that I can not remember who it is. I have tried it and it works very well.
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow