Steam locomotives should have no trouble traversing well laid track, at least moving forward. Moving in reverse is a whole different issue.
Rich
How can track be laid well enough for diesels but not steam locos? I don't understand.
richhotrainSteam locomotives should have no trouble traversing well laid track, at least moving forward. Moving in reverse is a whole different issue.
Mike
Water Level Route richhotrain Steam locomotives should have no trouble traversing well laid track, at least moving forward. Moving in reverse is a whole different issue. This sounds like experience talking. The only issue I've had was with a Bachmann light Mountain where the trailing truck was too light. It was fine running forward, but would derail running over switches in reverse. A little lead solved that problem. My other steamers run fine. Must be more to the story here. Do tell.
richhotrain Steam locomotives should have no trouble traversing well laid track, at least moving forward. Moving in reverse is a whole different issue.
This sounds like experience talking. The only issue I've had was with a Bachmann light Mountain where the trailing truck was too light. It was fine running forward, but would derail running over switches in reverse. A little lead solved that problem. My other steamers run fine. Must be more to the story here. Do tell.
Alton Junction
Never seems to amaze me how fix derailments!
Glad that the OP is doing well in laying track. I'd suggest waiting awhile before ballasting. That's a PITA to fix if a derailment occurs!
Ablebakercharlie richhotrain Ablebakercharlie Testing the track so far I have had no serious derailments No "serious" derailments? Isn't a derailment a derailment? Rich Good point! I guess what I meant was that there were no track anomolies that were causing consistent derailments. For example - one derailment was caused by a track pin on the rails.
richhotrain Ablebakercharlie Testing the track so far I have had no serious derailments No "serious" derailments? Isn't a derailment a derailment? Rich
Ablebakercharlie Testing the track so far I have had no serious derailments
Testing the track so far I have had no serious derailments
No "serious" derailments? Isn't a derailment a derailment?
Ablebakercharlie Steam locomotives should have no trouble traversing well laid track, at least moving forward. Moving in reverse is a whole different issue. Rich How can track be laid well enough for diesels but not steam locos? I don't understand.
What I was trying to say is that track can be laid well enough for steam locomotives as well as diesels. However, steam locomotives can be finicky when moving in reverse over turnouts, usually due to lightweight trailing trucks if they are too springy. Added weight on the trailing trucks will usually solve that problem.
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Got it. I'll take a look at the turnouts again to make sure they are level and run the steam locos over them again to see what happens.
To clarify on my end - I'm having difficulties with evey steam loco I've tried (going forwards) on every turnout on the layout (hesitating or stopping altogether) while the diesels have been no issue at all going fowards or backwards.
-charles
Ablebakercharlie Got it. I'll take a look at the turnouts again to make sure they are level and run the steam locos over them again to see what happens. To clarify on my end - I'm having difficulties with evey steam loco I've tried (going forwards) on every turnout on the layout (hesitating or stopping altogether) while the diesels have been no issue at all going fowards or backwards. -charles
richhotrain The short answer is no, I don't. At this point I have a loop wired with only one connection to it. All the turnouts lead to track that isn't in operation yet as I want to wire them into blocks. I'll take a picture of the layout and post it so you can see what I have so far. Might take a bit of time to follow the MRR protocols / instructions properly. Thanks, charles Ablebakercharlie Got it. I'll take a look at the turnouts again to make sure they are level and run the steam locos over them again to see what happens. To clarify on my end - I'm having difficulties with evey steam loco I've tried (going forwards) on every turnout on the layout (hesitating or stopping altogether) while the diesels have been no issue at all going fowards or backwards. -charles Charles, have you wired all three ends of each and every turnout? That is really the key to keeping steam locomotives moving, without hesitating or stopping, over turnouts. Rich
The short answer is no, I don't. At this point I have a loop wired with only one connection to it. All the turnouts lead to track that isn't in operation yet as I want to wire them into blocks.
I'll take a picture of the layout and post it so you can see what I have so far. Might take a bit of time to follow the MRR protocols / instructions properly.
Thanks,
charles
Charles, have you wired all three ends of each and every turnout? That is really the key to keeping steam locomotives moving, without hesitating or stopping, over turnouts.
A multimeter or voltmeter will test for the presence of voltage on the turnout.
But, I use a different test. If a locomotive stalls on a turnout, I will transfer power onto the turnout with a pair of wires with alligator clips on both ends. If the locomotive moves, then the turnout needs to be powered with feeders or soldered rail joiners.
In other words, I will clip the end of each wire onto a powered section of straight track adjacent to the turnout, applying one wire to each rail. The other end of each wire is clipped onto the turnout. Be sure not to cross the wires, keep them in phase.