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So long as no-one gets hurt derailments are fun! ...that's when we get the cranes out... or you use those strange bulldozer things... anyone do a good model of them that doesn't cost the earth? Working the traffic round them is also fun... makes a great excuse for running out-of-place trains as well. There's a simple set of rules for derailments on models... 1. DON'T POKE! 2. DON'T GET OUT THE SOLDERING IRON, XURON CUTTERS OR ANY OTHER TOOLS. 3. DO ENGAGE YOUR BRAIN 4. GET PEN AND PAPER:- NOTE THE LOCO/CAR NUMBER NOTE THE LOCATION NOTE THE DIRECTION OF TRAVEL NOTE ANYTHING YOU THINK IS UNUSUAL (e.g. very hot weather) 5. NOW YOU CAN START TO LOOK AT THINGS. Okay, so it may be obvious what the problem is... but if it isn't you can spend forever going round in circles not resolving the problem. Similarly... it may look like the reason is obvious... quick fix... everything else starts to jump the rails at that point... the problem was with the car not the track... which now has a brand new problem. I don't believe how many times I see this... even on high quality layouts at shows. Some people leap into poking the car, others attack the track. If your auto conks out do you change all the tyres/ rebuild the road? Hopefully you call the experts or go about things systematically. If you record every derailment you should pick up whether the problem is track or car related. It may be a combination... as in a switch size and a 6 wheel truck. It may be a particular type of car at a particular location (this could be several different cars... sometimes the way the truck moves under a car will be a problem. There's all sorts of causes for derailments, data collection and analysis is not laborious and is the intelligent response. Okay... so a board joint has shifted and misaligned the rails... fix it... but note what has happened... note anything specific that might help you find a cure if the problem recurs or other joints start to play up. It IS worth noting... what is obvious today and easily remembered for the future... but then there's life, work, bills, children... Running operations (how many trains you have on the go at one time should have little to do with it... except, possibly, how much attention you are paying to any one... which makes me think... if you are switching and a train on the move derails... check back to confirm where it came from... it may have jumped the rails before you noticed it... i.e. it may have jumped at a board joint but run straight and level along the ties before coming off at a switch. (If you have sound, people talking or music on you may not hear the wheels on the ties). Remember (after your fifth derailment in front of your guests... oh yeah, guests are a prime casue of derailments... just by being there... and you wanting to impress them...) Model Railroads are FUN!
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