Ok odd request but I am sure I am not the first one. An end of line station on my railroad ended up being not level. I have spent days messing with it, but it seems due to optical illusion, the grade is a lot more than I think it is. I am to the point I will need to in install and reinstall 3 tortoises and fit them with longer wires and also change sub roadbed. Too much effort.
When I drop off cars at the station, and uncouple (Kadee magnet), the cars just roll forward while the loco is trying to escape for a runaround.
Is there an easy way to put light friction on the wheels to avoid this? I only have to do it on some cars and I don’t run very long trains so the friction should not be an operational issue elsewhere.
Anyone tried this? Maybe the pickups for the original bachmann lighting kits (copper leaves that go on the trucks) provide just enough to avoid the roll?
I have made a device that has a piece of piano wire that rises up from between the ties off center & comes up just above the top of the axle It is operated from a pull knob in the fascia of the layout
When the knob is pulled out it turns the bell crank & pushes the wire up thru the brass tubing… when pushed in, it retracts the wire back into the tubing
I have seen similar devices activated by tortoise switch machines
One suggestion I have seen in the past is to put a piece of piano wire in the middle of the roadbed sticking up just far enough to catch an axle. Because it is springy you the locomotive can push/pull the car over it, but the car by itself is stopped by the wire.
A tuft of “field grass” between the rails works perfectly for this. You can position it so that it holds the cars right where you want them. That way, you don’t have to apply a constant drag to your nice, free-rolling cars. What’s more, a single application works for every car on your layout.
On my 11x15 HO layout, I ended up with a caboose track (cap 9 cars) that is on a very slight incline - that cannot be fixed (unless I tear out the benchwork). “Regular” cars would stay put, but all of mine have Intermountain wheelsets and easily roll.
In - to the best of my recall - an old MR article it mentioned putting a KD coupler spring on the axle end(s) to prevent free rolling. As this only applies to my cabeese, I cut a KD spring in half, and put the halfs on either side of the same axle. The trick worked like a charm. The cars are not as free rolling as before, but still roll pretty easily. But, they stay put on the caboose track - which was my goal.
I’ve not seen the piano wire suggestion. I would think that even the finest diameter piano wire would tend to not actually be springy enough. But I could be wrong.
What I have seen suggested is similiar, but incorporates a thin nylon brush bristle.
Very thin/ small wire does work, however, by not using the “retrackable” method as described earlier, the wire is almost invisible and really hurts when you get stabbed. Retractable is a better choice or just go to monofilament line if you want to drill and just set them. The nylon could still puncture you, but usually will just bend over. Place them slightly off center as not to interfere w/ the coulpler trip “glad hand”.
It has been shown previously to use a series of wires and have them all retract.
I have a large industry that requires extensive switching to sidings that are just out of reach for most people. In order to make reliable pick-ups and set-offs, I needed to correct the exact same problem.
My solution was to tighten up the sideframes of the trucks so the cars weren’t as free rolling. Just enough tension on the axle ends so they would stay put when uncoupled, and not have to chase them down the siding trying to couple onto them.
Many of my cars have been adjusted in this manner, and after fifteen years of service, not one set of trucks has shown any excessive wear. It has also made a big difference in how the trains react going down grades … engines that would buck from the train pushing on them has greatly diminished. In many cases, I can visually see the engines “pulling” the train down grade !
I used the old paint brush bristle weeds along the sides of the rails that are just long enough to rub the side frames of the trucks. It works great on my modular yards. The layout is being constantly shook and moved around but the free rolling cars stay put. My friend had put steel shot inside some of his cars that get spotted at an industry and freight house on his layout. He buried a Neodymium magnet under the track where the cars get spotted and they stay where you drop them.
