Cars shaking while operating

[R. T. POTEET]

I'm surprised nobody said to model Penn Central during the 1970s :p

But seriously, it sounds like the trucks need adjusting. Also, accummulated dirt on the wheels can do that too. A little Goo Gone will take care of that. 

 

I can't, for the moment, remember whether it was in September of 1969 when I was on my way to Germany or July of 1973 when I was on my way from Germany but whenever it was I paced a PC freight from Paris to Oakland, Illinois where I was visiting my wife's grandparents.  The distance is about fifteen miles; it took that freight an hour and twenty-three minutes to transit that distance; that is just a hair under eleven miles per hour and that train could probably not have gone any faster or freight cars would have been tipped over all over the right of way.

The problem was track on which maintenance had been deferred.  In our model world when we have a car that tends to rock back and forth the problem is usually caused by a wheel which is/has gone out-of-round or an axle which is/has been bent.  The best thing to do is remove the trucks from the car and carefully roll them down the track; a gross defect will be readily apparent.

[emdgp92]

I'm surprised nobody said to model Penn Central during the 1970s :p

But seriously, it sounds like the trucks need adjusting. Also, accummulated dirt on the wheels can do that too. A little Goo Gone will take care of that. 

 

[Anonymous]

1. Clean the rails.

2. Clean the wheels.

3. Tighten one kingpin screw all the way down.  Then back it off until the truck swivels, but does not rock.  Leave the other kingpin loose enough for that truck to rock.

4. Use a truck tuning tool.  Reboxx and Micro Mark sell them.

5. Replace the wheelsets.

6. Replace the trucks.

7. Replace the cars.

 

8. Do not pass go, do not collect $200.00.

[tstage]

Roger,

Get rid of the plastic pins and use self-tapping screws instead.  Pins don't hold very well and usually fall out at the worst time.  (Is there any good time for them to do that?)

If you are using Rapido couplers, I'm assuming you are in N-scale?  In HO, 1/4" long 2-56 screws is what you need to hold the truck to the center post.  I don't know the size needed for N-scale trucks.  Most likely 1-?

Tom

[wmyersr]

Hi Folks, 

Thanks for all the great input.  Here are some answers to some questions I noticed and some things I have tried.

All Train cars are Atlas.  Most had trucks with rapido couplers.  I switched them to trucks with accumate couplers.  The trucks have plastic pins to secure them not screws.  I have experimented with trying to make the trucks tighter but not having much luck. 

Next I will examine the axles, and try to get the cars to the proper weight.   I noticed that a few of the cars have a slightly lose weight already.

 

Again, thanks for all the ideas.

Roger

 

[cmrproducts]

I have found that a number of the Proto metal wheels have a little plastic flash on the end of the pointed ends of the axle and what first appears as the wheels wabbling is actually this plastic flash on the end of the pointed axle moving the axle up and down in the truck.

I just carefully cut the flash off the pointed end (which is usually the one end) and the wheels then run fine.

I took me quite a while to finally see this and I didn't have to do any returns to the LHS.

I have since figured that most of the problems are a simple manufacturing problems which can usually be corrected with out thinking everything the MFG sells is junk!

A little observation goes a long way!

BOB H - Clarion, PA 

[Don Gibson]

MOST 'Wobble' is caused by wheel not centered or insulation being offset.

'Triangulation' (one truck tightened) (one loosened) changes frequecy and may help,

Othewise changing trucks is the answer.

Real RR cars 'sway' (not 'wobble') - from uneven track.

[dti406]

Also check the boss where the truck mounts, sometimes these are too long and no matter how much you tighten the screws, the truck will still wobble. If this is the case, file down the boss until tightening the screw as Brakie suggests eliminates the wobble.

 

Rick 

[doctorwayne]

It would be interesting to know the manufacturer of the wobbling cars:  Train Miniature, and later, Walthers, had a time when the wheelsets in their trucks were either out-of-round or not concentric on the axle.  Replacing the wheelsets cured the problem, or, if you were like me and had quite a few of these cars, simply scrapping only the faulty wheelsets (sometimes only one axle on a car) then consolidating the remaining "good" wheelsets on the majority of the cars, and replacing all wheelsets on only a few.  Saves some cash when you've got 30 or 40 of these cars.

 Wayne 

[BRAKIE]

Besides everything else that has been offered, check your wheelsets to see if one or more of the axles are 'warped'.  This can cause wobbling.  If so, replace the wheelsets with either P2K or Intermountain metal wheels.

Best of luck, and BTW, welcome to the forum! 

Tom

 

Gotta watch some of the P2K wheel sets..Before I converted to the new Athearn trucks I bought one pack of  P2K 33" wheels and 4 was warp.I return this pack and tried another and those was good to go.My standard club wheels was P2K 33" wheels in Athearn trucks.

BTW..That was the second "bad" pack I bought in 5 years and I bought these within 3 weeks of each other..Thankfully my LHS exchanged them.We thought it could have been a bad batch or was damage some how.

[Anonymous]

All of the above are good answers. But in most cases just tightening the truck mounting screws eliminates the problem. That's the first thing I do. And it usually solves the problem.

[twhite]

Besides everything else that has been offered, check your wheelsets to see if one or more of the axles are 'warped'.  This can cause wobbling.  If so, replace the wheelsets with either P2K or Intermountain metal wheels.

Best of luck, and BTW, welcome to the forum! 

Tom

[Anonymous]

[MisterBeasley]

Another one - check the base of the car where the truck mounts to the underbody.  That needs to be flat, as well as the top of the truck.  If you use washers between the truck and body for height adjustment, they need to be flat, too.

(This answer provided with a smile and a cold beer, as suggested above.)

[selector]

1. Clean the rails.

2. Clean the wheels.

3. Tighten one kingpin screw all the way down.  Then back it off until the truck swivels, but does not rock.  Leave the other kingpin loose enough for that truck to rock.

4. Use a truck tuning tool.  Reboxx and Micro Mark sell them.

5. Replace the wheelsets.

6. Replace the trucks.

7. Replace the cars.

...and don't forget the smile and cold beer while you're at it!

I agree with the above...any one of these may help, or all of them might be necessary, depending on the cause.  Is your track dippy and uneven, or if it is nice and level, is it consistently supported below it so that the weight of passing trains doesn allow depression?  Are the trucks twisted, axles slightly bowed, wheels not centred or are they out of round,...?

The best thing to do is to take one offending item at a time, and go through the entire list.  This may seem daunting, but if you decide that you will tackle one item per evening over the next two weeks, and devote the entire 20 minutes or so that it will take to do that one car, you should be in fine shape before many days have passed.  Either that, or take a sober look at your trackwork.

[BillyDee53]

1. Clean the rails.

2. Clean the wheels.

3. Tighten one kingpin screw all the way down.  Then back it off until the truck swivels, but does not rock.  Leave the other kingpin loose enough for that truck to rock.

4. Use a truck tuning tool.  Reboxx and Micro Mark sell them.

5. Replace the wheelsets.

6. Replace the trucks.

7. Replace the cars.

[spidge]

Have you added wieght to your cars, to NMRA standards. If you don't have grades you can add more. This will help emensly.

Make sure one of your trucks is pretty snug to the frame but allow the other truck to wobble slightly.

Check the trackwork, Even my Peco turnouts cause a bit of a bump up at the frogs. I file them down.

[BRAKIE]

I have several cars that shake when running. This very annoying. Does anyone have tips on correcting this?

Thanks in advance.

 

Heres my fix.I tighten the truck screws till the trucks can't turn..I then back the truck screw off 1 1/2 turns this leaves the truck snug to the frame and still leaves enough truck swing.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

The trucks have too much slack. Tighten one truck so that you can turn it left and right but can't tilt it very much. Leave the other truck loose to absorb the motion.

[tstage]

wmyersr,

First off: to the forum!  Good to have you aboard!

You might try tightening your truck screws.  You don't want them too tight or they'll bind.  Too loose and the cars will trimmer as they roll along.  You want to have the trucks just loose enough so that they rotate freely but don't wobble in the rotating pin.

Tom

[wmyersr]

I have several cars that shake when running. This very annoying. Does anyone have tips on correcting this?

Thanks in advance.