Has anyone had a problem with a Bachmann Niagara’s 4-8-4 front and rear trucks jumping the track?
They seam to loose or free flowing to hold the track (code 100). There must be a way to put more pressure on them. All my curves are 24 or greater and the turnouts are all # 6 Atlas.
These Steam engines look to nice just to set on the layout.
The usual suspects:
Does this engine derail at all turnouts, or only one or two? Most often, when a large steamer derails at a few points on the layout, the problem is the track, even if everything else goes through there fine. Check the track with a level and a straightedge to make sure there are no kinks, either horizontal or vertical. The long wheelbase and multiple wheels of steamers make them more fussy about good trackwork than other cars and engines.
Get an NMRA track gauge, and use it to check all the clearances on the turnout. Then, use the same gauge to check the gauge on the wheels of the steamer.
Finally, slowly push the engine over the problem track. Watch what happens. Do the wheels ride up and over at a particular spot? Do they “pick the points” as they enter a turnout?
Sometimes, you can remove the leading and trailing trucks and add a bit of weight. I took a copper penny and cut it down with a Dremel to add weight to the pilot truck of an IHC engine I’ve got, and that helps it stay on the rails. If you do this, be sure you’ve got enough clearance so the weight doesn’t interfere with the motion of the truck.
Good reply, Mr. B.
That pretty much says it all.
Rich
Thank You for your input a lot of things to check, I had the track professionally laid by a builder in Indiana, so I haven’t check his work. Looks like a good place to start. I am going to get a couple more pairs of eyes to help .
Again thanks for the help
Mutilating US coinage is a Federal offense! (Don’t worry. I won’t tell.) Lead (possibly from wheel weights or old fishing sinkers) is a suitable sub. So is solder.
Our Japanese friends bend the pilot truck flat-plate frame at the pivot screw, then install a soft tension spring which both loads and centers the wheels.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
The issue of Model Railroader that just hit the stand has an article about detailing steam engines. There’s an interesting picture of how the author added a piece of stiff piano wire beneath the engine to stabilize the rear engine truck. Depending on how the wire is pre-flexed, this could also add a downward force on the truck, equivalent to weight, which should help it track better. Be advised, though, that this tension would lift the engine a small amount, reducing traction by a small amount.
Isaac Newton didn’t have a model railroad, but he was right about forces.
I really liked Mr B.'s reply (except for the coin part!). I too have a Spectrum 4-6-0 with a leading truck derailment problem. I observed closely and found a track joint on descending curve that. I super elevated it and the problem went away.