One thing I've noticed on Atlas N-scale flex is that the "spikes" can easily be knocked off the outside of the rail letting the gauge widen. I check flex very carefully for that now before I buy it at the LHS.
Thanks for the tip, gives me a idea where to look. I think the main problem area is not where they are derailing. My board has two main boards that is connected by a 4 X 4 lift out section. Two sectoins that are joined by the lift out section are about a 1/4" off from each other. Where the track goes over the lift out section to 1 of the main boards there is a small crown in the rails.
I think the engines are lifting the front axel at this point but stay on the 10 foot straight that is after it. They all derail at a turn out after the straigh away. Allso all the emgines are 12 wheel drive, longer truck maybe making the problem worst. Cheap LL 8 wheels have no issue.
Thanks for the ideas, I will post later today if I find the problem
Cuda Ken
I hate Rust
Frist let me say thanks to the answers. Then I need to added my rail skills are still pretty bad, but way better than 4 months ago when I got hooked on trains.
Part that gets me as I was laying the rail I tested ran engines on both lines to see if there was a problem. There was no problem till I try to pull a load Then it got worse, now a bare engine will not make the run. Best part, I was using a PK2 E-6 as the mule engine. Then for no reason it started to run in to the turn out motor coming out of a 26' turn?
Other thing I dont get is driffrent engines have problems at driffrent points on the track. Line 2 F-7A runs great, but added the power B it's front wheel comes off but rerails it self. Line 1 big pain in the what ever Erie Bulit PK1 clears the turn out motor but derails at the other end of the bench?
I know it is my bench work and rail laying and I will find it. But at this point I all kost wish I did not mess with the board!
Cuda Ken Derailing again
Leaning on the track is a bad idea. I found this out the hard way when I put my hand down on the track to keep from falling over as I was doing some scenery work. I ended up replacing a 3 foot piece. Leaning on it or across it can cause the rails to bend, pop out of the ties, make joins crooked and a number of other things. Also, if there is a dip at the spot where the derailments are occuring, that can make you rip your hair out.
I had a problem at one particular stretch of track. the track section started with the right rail higher than the left and a little further down the line, it switched, the left rail was higher than the right rail. My 8 wheel locos took it just fine. The 12 wheelers would derail every time. I finally fixed that. No more derailments.
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Texas Zepher has the problem nailed. When you LEAN on track it will flex and go out of gauge. We have Code 83 HO and where my ELBOW leaned on a siding the track was damaged and caused trouble. Got a STEEL rule and found the deflection in the rails and all is well.
Out of gauge can be caused when and if you solder and melt the ties. Another way is to bang into the side of the rails sliding an item over them, hammer, screw driver etc.
Get the NMRA Gauge it is worth the money.
cudaken wrote:How easy does flex track go out of gauge?
While I was laying the new line I was laying on the bench work at spots close to the now problem section. You were physically laying on the track that is now having problems? That could have bent the rails.
While I was laying the new line I was laying on the bench work at spots close to the now problem section.
I re layed the section that has been the pain in the Cabosse but to my horror they still derail?Re-laid with new rail or just re-laid the old possibly bent rail?
I re layed the section that has been the pain in the Cabosse but to my horror they still derail?
I do not have the gauge to check the rails yet but will soon. Yes, a wise expenditure. Let us know what it tells you.
I do not have the gauge to check the rails yet but will soon.
Section that is the problem has around 1000 hours of use.My club has sections of track with tens of thousands of hours on them. I don't believe hours of use is a factor.
Section that is the problem has around 1000 hours of use.
Even though I had a railroad in my loft that was subjected to intense heat in the summer and real cold in the winter, the gauge of the flexi track never went out. It sure snaked! It wandered from side to side! But never went out of gauge. Nailing down the track too tight could be a possibility, but you would have to have belted them down a long way.
The above answers could cause flex track to go out gage. One other possibility here is that you never mentioned how you laid the flextrack. If you nailed down the ties in the center of the track hard enough to bend them downward, this could narrow the track guage. This is why the preferred method of flextrack laying is glue then track in place using push pins that are removed once the glue dries.
Also, joining flex track on curves usually means that some ties have to be cut away until the tracks are joined together. This means you can wind up with an inch or more of unsupported track where the gauge cannot be maintained. You should purchase at least two triple point track gages to hold these joints in gauge until you can spike or glue them in place. If you solder the joints together, these guages will accomplish two benefits. Heating up the rails for the solder might soften the plastic ties enough to allow the rails to move out of guage. The three point guages not only maintain the spacing, but act as heat sinks to protect the plastic ties from melting.
cudaken wrote: Up to the up grade with line 2 line 1 was great. While I was laying the new line I was laying on the bench work at spots close to the now problem section. Only thing I can think of is the flex track flexed to much?
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I have known Peco 0 Gauge flextrack survive outdoors for years with no problems and have never known any problems with Peco 00 or various H0 indoors except those cause by mistreatment or bad laying (not saying that these are your causes). Flex track is a remarkably stable product in my experience.
One thing to try to do is to identify exactly where the derailments occur each time they happen. Another is to identify which locos and/or cars derail. This is a bit of a pain but quicker and easier than relaying the track.
If you have no scenery down yet you might mark the baseboard at 1" intervals through the troubled length. Mark the feet (12th inches) in red and number them and make the 6" marks a bit longer to make identifying them easier. (This is basically what the real RR do).
If you then make three columns on a page make the 1st column the location, the 2nd the car number and the 3rd the car length. (You may find that longer or shorter cars (or any) are the ones that fall off).
Looked at another way it's just the same as ironing out a snag in an auto engine's running.
This is puzzling. Do you have an eased grade, and/or is there a transtion into a curve at the same time? If the grade comes on too suddenly, you could derail, particularly on a curve. However, you state that it is rail that has served you well in place for some time.
Flextrack should not go "out of gauge" except perhaps if one rail has slipped from its plastic spike moorings..somehow. If the ties are not broken and the rail feet are still contained inside the spikes, the only other explanations that I could think of would be vetically bent rails. Perhaps, if the layout was unused for quite some time, and was exposed to wide fluctuations in both heat and humidity, the rails have been spread...or brought closer...by a number of bending sessions that happened when you were not in a position to witness them. If you have a magnifier, use it to see how snug the spikes lie against the feet of the rails. Attempt to slide the rails side-to-side. If one of them slips sideways more than about 1/32", that could be your problem.
How easy does flex track go out of gauge? Long story made short. Added around 40 feet to the board a week ago. Have two main lines number 2 is the new track and works great. But, number one line has be came a living (----). On the end I never touched can not keep a PK, Athearn or now a LL on the rails.
Up to the up grade with line 2 line 1 was great. While I was laying the new line I was laying on the bench work at spots close to the now problem section. Only thing I can think of is the flex track flexed to much?
I do not have the gauge to check the rails yet but will soon. Just wonder if any of you have had the same problem? Section that is the problem has around 1000 hours of use.
Starting to hate trains, I started this because it was easy?