Brands of US diesels and wagons stay on track best

[Anonymous]

I am located in the USA and have just finished building a HO railway layout with ATLAS track.

Sadly, I have found a couple of problems.

1) some of my curve radius's are too tight as larger diesel engines with 6+6 wheels sometimes de-rail.

2) I have found that a curve or slope going into a switch is a bad idea, this is another cause of derailments.

Are there brands of US engines or cars that have proved not to de-rail as much? The derailments are random, so they are not bad, just annoying.

I have found that steel-wheel cars are much better than plastic, but which brands are best?

[vw-bug]

I run Athearns and Proto 2000 Deisel Locos. In general, I find the heavier the engine is, the better it runs. I have less derailments and so forth. You are correct metal wheels are a big plus.

[Hawks05]

i have a Athearn GP40 Burlington Northern "Tiger Striped" front. i have not been able to run it on a track yet as i don't have my layout done. my friend told me since i'll have a 4x8 layout that i should only run 4x4 locomotives so they don't derail. also that 22 in. or 18 in. radius' are the best for just starting. so thats what i'm going to do. i hope to run Athearn and Proto 2000 on the layout once its up. but for now i just have my GP40. and all the cars i got all have metal wheels. only way to go.

[Jetrock]

Is the problem with the locomotives or the track?

No diesel with six-wheel trucks will perform well on sharp-radius track--what is the radius of your track? If it's under, oh, 24" then the track might be the culprit.

To limit problems from a curve going into a switch, try having the switch continue in the same direction as the curve to avoid causing an S-curve situation which will always be a hassle with long equipment.

To limit the problems from a downgrade, make sure that the slope is gentle enough--and if possible either move the switch farther onto the mainline, or put the switch on the grade! There's a good chance that if you have a switch at the base of a hill, the coupler is snagging on the switch rails, causing the derailment.

Also, making sure that your trackwork is level and stable is important. Loose, non-level track can lead to hassles.

I admit, my shelf layout has sharp 12" curves and S-curves in several places--but then, I run small diesels at scale speeds of 25 mph or less, with 40 or 50 foot rolling stock, so derailments are typically due to me forgetting to throw a switch...

[dknelson]

I agree with Jetrock that larger engines will derail on sharp curves. The problem for our UK friend is that EMD and GE now make very very large engines, while layout radius for curves has not increased to go along with it -- there is only so much you can do on a 4 x 8 board. Cars are getting too long too. This is why modeling the 1950s is so good -- trains were well suited to model railroad curves.
The other key thing is weighting to NMRA standards. Many cars are far too light. And if some are correctly weighted then they cause derailments for the others.
Dave Nelson

[Anonymous]

I think it has more to do with the distance between the trucks than whether they have 4 or six wheels. I have an Athearn SD9 (the first US loco I bought, in June 2001) which runs very well on Second-Radius curves. (not sure what radius these are in inches, the Hornby website doesn't give this data) I also have an Athearn AC4400 which is not too happy on these - it doesn't derail, but it makes noticably more noise which doesn't bode well for the future of the gearboxes! Interestingly, I can run Husky Stacks on these curves with little trouble - that may be because I glue a piece of roofing lead cut to shape into the bottom of each lower-deck container, this also cures wobbling.

[Jetrock]

Proper weighting will certainly add to stability.

As to the best thing to do with a 4x8 sheet of lumber, cutting it lengthwise, resulting in a layout that is mostly straight lines with one gradual curve seen from the inside, will help greatly.

You don't know what radius your curves are, or just their measurement in inches? Most of us Yanks can handle measurements in cm as long as you don't mind the steam coming out of our ears as we divide everything by 2.54...

[Anonymous]

Sad to say, I don't know the radius. It used to be on the Hornby website, but they've removed it. I'd "guesstimate" them to be about 1ft 8inches, definitely under 2ft radius.