a little slow in the turns!

[Anonymous]

Hello, in the far back turn on my layout just before the back straight-away, i notice that my engines go a litttle bit slower around this turn but then gain speed! is this a track problem or do trains naturally slow up around a turn


thanks,

tim

[Ibflattop]

Tim, IT could be a power loss how far it the turn from your Powerpack? It also could be a guage problem too. Kevin

[Anonymous]

well its a three by four so its only about less than a foot
i have a train gauge, i think its just the radius of the turn

[BRVRR]

Tim,
There is a formula for calculating the drag on turns. Essentially they cause the same effect as a grade, so slowing down in turns is normal. However, if you are using DCC and decoders with torque compensation, there should be no visible slowing.
I have experienced this problem on my DCC controlled Black River Valley Railroad. It turned out to be a gauge problem. I replaced a few sections of out-of-gauge flex track on the outer main and the problem went away.
Check the gauge with a track gauge and check the power connections before you tear up track.
Hope this helps.

[johncolley]

For those interested in the drag of curves and what they do to grades the equivalent is aproximately 32/ radius= coefficient of drag increase relative to straight level track. For example a 24' radius curve would have 32/24 = 1.3 times the load. so if you are on a 2% grade the effect of the curve on the grade is 1.3 x 2% or equal to a straight grade of 2.6%. To maintain the same load you would have to reduce the grade in the turn to about 1.4 to 1.5% or just add a little throttle to compensate.

[mikebonellisr]

I am having the same problem...I found a couple of problems 1. Qne curve [24'" r] was out of guage 2. One of my steam engines was also a little wide in guage.The combo of the tight guage of the track and the wide guage of the drivers was driving me crazy.I adjusted the track so all my engines ran through the curve flawlessly except for one that would still slow up.When i adjusted for that,some of my other engines pilot wheels would drop off the rails.To get every engine [40+] to run perfect over every inch of track and turnout is becomming a daunting task.No problem at all w/pass. or freight cars,Sometimes railroading is NOT fun.

[Anonymous]

I remember running my engines at a friends layout and had a problem with slowing down and some large radius steam engines derailing on curves. We found the problem to be when fastening the track down with nails the owner had pushed the nail too far down causing the ties to bend. This then caused the gauge to narrow causing the aforementioned problems.

Take the books advice and do not pu***he center track nails down too far!

Rick

[johncolley]

Another thing to check when laying track...some brands have one fixed rail and one sliding rail relative to the ties. Check this out and always lay the track so the sliding side is to the outside of the curve. This may help open or maintain the guage distance.

[AggroJones]

QUOTE: Originally posted by johncolley

Another thing to check when laying track...some brands have one fixed rail and one sliding rail relative to the ties. Check this out and always lay the track so the sliding side is to the outside of the curve. This may help open or maintain the guage distance.

I've always heard the sliding rail is supposed to be on the inside.

I've got a BLI J1 that dramatically slows down through 28" curves, even running light.
Helluva lot of drag there. And this locomotive was made to handle 24". Hmmmm.....

[jrbernier]

I have always put the sliding rail to the outside of a curve. This opens up the gauge a little on a curve. Putting the sliding rail on the inside will tighten the curve as the rail springs to the centerline. I used Atlas code 100 flex and have had no problems with derailments on my curves. My P2K SD9's and BLI USRA 2-8-2's have no problem with any 'wide gauge' this may cause. I would rather be spiking the outside of the outer rail to tighten the gauge if needed. Spiking the inside rail to relieve a tight spot is not an enjoyable nights activity.
BTW, I plan to run some trains Friday night to celebrate the new year. I plan to blow the whistle's on a few sound equipped steamers to celebrate!

Jim Bernier