derailing problems on turnouts

[Anonymous]

hello, i'm new to the site, and i'm just getting started with model railroading. A few years ago, i recieved a train set for christmas, and messed around with it a little then, but didn't have much space so i packed it up. I now have it set up in a basement, and am having trouble with the cars derailing at the turnouts. I have no clue what its from. Anyone have suggestions? should i replace the wheels? weigh down the cars? I am using the Bachmann EZ Track and have no trouble with straights or curves, just the turnouts. All help will be appreciated very much.

Chad

[cacole]

Out of gauge wheels is the most likely culprit, along with oversized wheel flanges. Train sets use the cheapest plastic wheels the manufacturer can crank out, and they are sometimes also out of round. Try adding weight to the cars first and see if that doesn't help. Most plastic rolling stock is underweight. The formula for weight is 1 ounce plus 1/2 additional ounce for each inch of car length, so a 5-inch long boxcar would need to be around 3.5 ounces. Pennies are probably the cheapest source of weight that you can find. if there is room to hide them inside a car. Another possible thing to check are the couplers. I assume that the cars still have the hideous looking horn hook couplers on them that have a piece of plastic hanging down, and that might be catching on the turnout if the coupler is too low. Use fingernail clippers and cut off that protrusion if you are not using it to uncouple cars.

[nfmisso]

E-Z track turnouts generally require a little tweaking with a file so that they do not pick wheel flanges.

[Roadtrp]

QUOTE: Originally posted by nfmisso

E-Z track turnouts generally require a little tweaking with a file so that they do not pick wheel flanges.

Yes, I have discovered the same thing. I always file the movable rail where it rests against the fixed rail. (I don't know the 'real' terms for what I described, but I'm sure someone here can provide it.)

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the suggestions. I did wonder if the cars were underweight... the seemed awfully light compared to others. What type of wheel do you suggest i use to replace the current ones? i want to have good train running and not have to stop every time i go thru a turnout to fix cars that derail. Also, what type of couplers should i use? I'm just starting and want to use the good stuff. Thanks

Chad

[Big_Boy_4005]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Roadtrp

QUOTE: Originally posted by nfmisso

E-Z track turnouts generally require a little tweaking with a file so that they do not pick wheel flanges.

Yes, I have discovered the same thing. I always file the movable rail where it rests against the fixed rail. (I don't know the 'real' terms for what I described, but I'm sure someone here can provide it.)

The moving rails are the points, and they rest against the stock rails. Some turnouts have a slight notch in the stock rail to allow for a thicker more durable point.

[Anonymous]

I suggest you buy a few blue box kits from athearn, they only cost 6 or 7 bucksand run pretty well, also while your at the hobby shop ask about "kadee couplers"

--Joe

[Don Gibson]

MOST dreailments are caused by switches:

There is a 'Laundry list' of causes, starting with running too fast.
Wheel gauging.
Horizontal Restriction on trucks.
Vertical Restriction on trucks.
Mismatched old wheel flanges on new flangeways.
One These will probably cure the problem, if not ... look at:

Imperfections in a turnout.
KInk where you join the turnout.
Wrong car for a tight radius
Too light a car - notice this is LAST.

YOU have to trouble shoot. WE cannot eyeball your problem - only guess. get back to us,

[Anonymous]

Maybe your cars are derailing on turn outs is because your coupling wire is to long and it is getting caught in the rail crossing.

[Anonymous]

If you end up replacingn wheels I would replace them metal wheels. They will add weight to your car and will be more reliable. The also sound real neat while going around the layouot.

If your getting new couplers ket kadee #5's and also pick up a coupler height gauge while your at it. This will help you set up the couplers so they are all at the same height and nothing is hanging to low.

Something that would heelp us a lot is if you could tell us what brand of car you are using. There are some trick to different cars that we can help you out on.

Andrew

[jfugate]

One thing no one has yet mentioned is getting an NMRA track guage and learning how you use it.

You can check your wheelsets and your turnouts to help determine where the problem lies.

Also some basic rules of observation help.

If the same car derails over and over, then its probably the wheels on that car. If more than one car derails at the turnout, then it may be the turnout. If the cars derail at a certain location (the points or the frog) then check the guage of that part of the turnout closely.

You want the guage near maximum at the points and spot on minimum at the frog. The reasons should be pretty obvious. The points crowd the space between the rails with an extra railhead, so you don't want the wheels to be climbing the rail because of tight guage.

At the frog you don't want the wheels to wander at all, you want to be able to precisely control the direction the wheels take with the help of the guard rail, so minimum guage helps ensure this happens reliably.

[nfmisso]

Chad;

As mentioned above, you need a couple basic tools:
* a NMRA track guage
* a Kadee #205 coupler height guage (and read the instructions !!!)

Use metal wheels on your fleet, not that there different axle lengths out there, measure what you have, and replace with the same length (±.005"). You may also want to get a "the tool", which ReBoxx and others have.

[Anonymous]

Thank you all for the help. I don't know what kind of cars i have right now, but i will get the proper tools and gauges to check it all out. I appreciate all the good information from all of you, and when i get a chance and some free time, I'll head over to where my train is set up and spend time checking all of it out and corrected as necessary. I'll post back in a week or two and let everyone know how it turns out.

Chad

[rogerhensley]

One other thing that you might do is to take a look at the NMRA 'Introduction to Model Railroading' pages at: http://www.nmra.org/beginner/ for some tips on track, wheels and cars. Yes, there is a formula for weighting rolling stock as well that you can in the NMRA Standards section at: http://www.nmra.org/standards/ . Look for RP-20.1