I have 2 LH radius turnouts. It seems that the peco has a derail problem, mostly for box cars. I am having a problem with the 6 truck diesels and also the 4 trucks.
I have trimmed the tip of the switch rail to a 45 degree angle. I used my caliper to measure the rail span. Nothing seems to help. I read another post on the Frog joint is to great for some of the trucks causing them to derail.
Any Info would be greatly appreciated.
I am going to get the NMRA gauge.
Peco makes 3 different frog sized turnouts -- small, medium and large -- if you're having problems you must have the small turnouts that are about equivalent to an Atlas #4.
What are the brand names and ages of the rolling stock and engines you're having problems with? You may have wheel gauge or poor trackwork problems more than a turnout problem. For rolling stock, the usual practice is to tighten one truck firm enough that the car doesn't wobble as it goes down the track, and leave the other truck a little looser to allow free play on uneven trackwork.
When you get that NMRA gauge, check the wheels on all your rolling stock and locomotives.
Welcome to the Forums
I just recently installed several of them and have no problems so far. That is with 4 and six axle loco's as well as my Y6B, Mikado, and M1A
Springfield PA
64bugman I have 2 LH radius turnouts. It seems that the peco has a derail problem, mostly for box cars. I am having a problem with the 6 truck diesels and also the 4 trucks.
What do you mean by "LH radius" turnouts? Are these left hand turnouts, or curved left hand turnouts? Are they code 100?
I have several code 100 PECO turnouts and they all suffered from the same problem....derailments at the frog when the cars/engines traveled through the turnout entering from the point end. The problem was that the guard rails allowed the wheel sets to move too far towards the tip of the frog. I ended up having to shim the guard rails on the stock rail side. I think I used about 0.015 thick styrene strips.
You can check for this by pushing a freight car truck through the turnout by hand. As you push the truck through the turnout, hold it against the points as you move it toward the frog. If the guard rail is not doing its job, the flange on the wheel approaching the frog will pick the frog every time.
Hey Bugman,
If you haven't solved the problem check the level of the turnout. I am installing a yard and had a similar problem with a Peco curved turnout. After trying several things I ended up wedging the outside rail and the problem disappeared.
Good luck and
Happy railroading
Bob
Don't Ever Give Up
First thing to do though (If you're actually reading responses on your thread) is to run the loco's at very slow speed to see where they are derailing. You'll be able to tell if they are hitting something or riding over a rail etc.
Hi, As stated, the NMRA track gauge is essential to have if you are to debug your Peco switches successfully.
The Peco C-100, and C-75 switches I have are spec'd for HO and OO trackage, and this seems to be a problem for HO-spec wheelsets entering from the points end. The cause is the frog guard rail being a bit too close to the frog, allowing the wheels to nip at the frog point. You can see this using the gauge's "wheels" notches and laying the gauge across the guard and frog tip (Power Off please!), comparing the possible distance that the back of the wheel flanges could be from the guardrail. If you see the frog tip in the notch, there's your bug. The fix is simple: just glue a strip of 10-thou styrene along the bearing surface of the guard and trim it flush along the top and ends after the glue dries. I paint mine with a marking pen so they are less visible.
I have not seen this problem in my Peco C-83 switches, and they are not rated for OO use, only HO.
Have fun, George.