I’m still in the slow process of building my 10’x3’ N scale layout, but I’ve got one issue I want to get taken care of before I start putting down scenery.
I’ve noticed on my Atlas Turnouts that I get occasional derails from some cars, mainly passenger, from the wheels hitting the guardrail on the turnouts. It’s as if the depth on the plastic guardrail is kicking the wheels on the trucks up just slightly, which at times can cause a derail.
Would it be advisable to try and grind down the depth on those guardrails?
How do Peco turnouts perform in comparison to the Atlas ones? I currently use the Atlas coil switches with the turnouts, and have thought about switching out to Tortoise switches, but this guardrail issue is a bit annoying.
Before removing any material from the guardrails, make sure you check everything with an NMRA standards gauge or you could really be asking for trouble. Atlas turnouts tend to have pretty sloppy tolerances, so it’s unlikely the guardrails are too tight in gauge. You may have a gauge problem with wheelsets and/or trucks that are not properly adjusted to move through the turnouts (i.e. they dont turn or rock as they should). There may also be a problem with excess plastic that oozed into the wrong place on a few turnouts as they were manufactured, preventing wheels from rolling smoothly. Check the flangeways for any stray plastic around the frogs that could interfere with wheel treads or flanges.
You said everything I would say regarding this problem.
That NMRA standards gauge is one of the most useful tools we have in this model railroading game and if he does not already have one I would encourage the original poster to acquire one and learn how to use it. I have found more out of gauge – or marginally gauged – wheelsets with this thing.