I try to make my track work “perfect” but all larger HO articulateds like Challengers, Big Boys, Cab Forwards, Yellowstones, etc. have tweaks that need doin’ such as adding a bit of weight to pilot or trailing trucks, etc. Or just finding out that that folding deck piece is rubbing on something, when new.
OR just new operators running against turnouts.
Short of re-railers (which I’m actually considering in the yard (already plentiful on hidden track being laid) what do you all do to make re-railing these beasts quick and easy during an ops session?
When visitors or operators are over, it’s a little stressful trying to get all those drivers and trucks lined up while everyone’s waiting.
Have any of you gone with more re-railers on the layout in plain sight then you’d really like, just to make things go that much easier during sessions?
What do you do on curves where Rix rerailers and Peco Loco Lifts don’t fit? They’re also “scenery sensitive, needing 2” clearance on either side.
Thankfully, I get few derailments these years, although I do misalign the odd set of points now and then.
It pays to fix your track so that you can enjoy trains. Last March, I pulled up 3’ of nicely ballasted and weathered flex along a shallow curve because it turned out the newest steamer hated it. My steamers always get the nod…not the track, no matter how good it looks.
However, to answer you: I take most of the weight off the drivers by pinching the boiler and the cylinders of the derailed engine and lifting just enough that I can force the drivers back onto the rails with some side pressure from either thumb or forefinger opposite. That’s for a single engine derailed on an articulated.
When I place an articulated on the rails for the first time, or after a workbench session, I use two hands, pinching boiler and both pairs of cylinders, I draw the cylinders up toward the boiler a bit with the thumbs and forefingers. This lets the rear driver set hang a bit, and they can easily be aligned on the rails and set down. Then I try to eyeball an alignment of the other drivers, and then set it down. I often have to do the process I described in the previous paragraph because one axle won’t cooperate. Lastly, the tender, and then I power it up.
I don’t use rerailers anywhere on the layout. I have one of those red plastic ones handy for railing on my staging/storage yard, but that’s it.
I run quite a few Mallets on module layouts so I’m always putting them on, taking them off, and rerailing. I’ve found it easier for me to hold the locomotive with both hands from above, then place the trailing truck on the rails first (the lead and trailing trucks usually will hang lower than the drivers). The rear set of drivers is then set on the rails. I will then carefully place the lead truck, then the lead drivers. The last step is to set the tender trucks on the rails. This is best done with your eyes just above track level, if the locomotive has derailed at a point where scenery or another train is blocking the view I often end up 0-5-0ing it to a better spot[banghead].
I think its time to check your track where it derails. My test modules trackwork isn’t perfect yet a long coal train pulled by my PCM Y6b goes thru it, really, a good model design, but other models aren’t quite so friendly such as some of my brass. But its just test module track work, the real layout will be done carefully. The club I was in stressed quality workmanship especially on the track with hidden track it had it was reliable.
It seems the layout seems to run perfect when you are alone but when onlookers come, erm, trip, crash, whossh, clunkl!
Except for one locomotive, all of my articulateds are ‘prototypically’ articulated, that is to say that only the front set of drivers ‘swivels’, the rear set is fixed under the firebox. That said, I generally follow the pinch the cylinder rule when I put them on the track, trailing truck first. With the rear set on the tracks, I adjust the front set using the cylinders as a fulcrum. Three of my biggest articulated (the Yellowstones) have pedestal tenders, and I find them very easy to set on the tracks. If two wheels hit the tracks, the rest of the set seems to follow, and just pinching the four-wheel lead truck puts it on the track nicely.
If I have any major problems ‘railing’ an articulated (or any of my other brass locos), it’s usually connecting the tender to the loco with the ‘wire’ drawbar. Sometimes that can become a hit-or-miss proposition, depending on how anxious I am at the time.
I can’t help you with derailments, since (and please don’t think I’m ‘blowing my own horn’ here) I’ve never had an articulated derail on me. Other locos, yes, but those big, heavy brass articulateds seem to be very fond of my trackwork. Either that, or the sheer weight of them temporarily straightens out the ‘kinks’ as they roll over them, LOL! I did have some trouble several years ago with the lead truck on one of my Yellowstones, but a small piece of lead weight and tweaking the lead spring to the wheelset cured that up pretty quick.
Yes, I DO have derailment problems like everyone else I know, but it’s generally with long-wheelbased non-articulated locos, deciding suddenly to pick a railjoint that has never given them trouble before. Steam seems to be like that–smooth and trouble-free one time, turning into an Operatic Prima Donna the next. For me, it’s just another aspect of the hobby (albeit a frustrating one!).