Hello, this is my first time here. I hope this is in the correct forum.
I have been building a HO layout on a 6X8 board. I am having two main issues.
One is a loss of power at certain points along the track. If the train is going even medium speed it will glide past these and continue on.
The other is the switch. As the train runs over the switch, it bounces and sometimes looses power or jumps the track. How do I smooth out the switch area so it will run through it smooth?
I also think that I may have one corner too tight of a radius, the train looses power at the apex of the curve. it is a 2-8-2 IHC or is there another possible cause?
there can be lots of things that cause the problems…what you might want to do first is solder all the rail joiners together because it sounds like you have loose rail joiners…another thing you can do is solder feeder wires from the power pack to each rail section…another thing could be dirty wheels on the locomotive or dirty track…take a q-tip and clean the flanges on the locomotive wheels with alcohol and if all possible go to your LHS (local hobby Shop) and purchase a “bright boy” track cleaner…it looks like a big pencil eraser and has a soft emery material in it that you rub on the track to clean it…if you are having trouble with a track switch (we call them turnouts in the MRR world)…the first thing to do is check the frog especially if it’s an atlas turnout…you may have to file it down with a jeweler’s file in the flangeways to take away the hump…another place to file is the point rails…they can catch a wheel and the train car can “pick” the rail causing a derailment…file a small bit of the pointrail at a 45 degree angle where it touches the stock rail so there is a smooth transition from one track to the other…welcome to the world’s greatest hobby…one other thing i’d like to add…if at first you don’t succeed …try try again…it takes years to get good at this hobby …don’t let small problems discourage you because there are going to be lots of them before you get it down pat… chuck
Doug, you appear to have most of it figured out! Believe it or not. The 2-8-2 configuration is usually quite forgiving, but there are 8 coupled drivers after all. That length may give you trouble on some 18" track curves. Personally, I would never have anything less than about 24" on my layout now that I have some time under my belt in this hobby. You are interested in steamers, so my bet is that you will at some point have a strong hankering for a big fella, like a 2-10-2, or a 2-10-4. That would be when you have to take up those 18 curves and start afresh…not necessarily a bad thing, but…you know.
Your rail joiners are not making a tight enough contact with the rail ends where your loco stalls. You may have to use a punch to gently tap them tighter, or simply replace them…they do get spread with handling.
As for the “switches”, the correct term in the hobby is “turnouts” so that we never confuse them with “switches” of the type that we throw to change polarity in DC operations…direct current. I don’t know how old yours are, but maybe they are fine. It could be that the locomotives you are using have large flanges on the inner edges of the wheels, and these will ride up on filled turnout frogs. The commercial frogs will sometimes have plastic or metal fill so that the flanges will ride on them to get the wheels to the other side. (the frog is the crossing in the middle of the turnout where one side’s wheels must cross over the inner rails). So, older locomotives will often have large flanges that may buck the loco up and off the rails entirely when they meet the filled frogs.
If you can, get ahold of a track and wheel gauge (a thin metal piece that measures whether things are going to fit on the rails) from your hobby shop. Then, check every single axle on anything you place on the rails with that gauge. You’d be surprised at the variance.
Use a file to even the switch and smooth track where joiners are placed. Soldering is an option for better connection, but you can make sure your track is properly and securily put together, then put track tacks along to hold it down and keep good connection. And yes, a bright boy is a good thing to have, but you can use medium grit sandpaper for a substitute, but wipe away gritty residue with a paper towel after you are done cleaning it. As for the turning radius, take other peoples advice because I dont have any experience with IHC locos, especially steam. Good luck! -beegle55
please don’t use sand paper on your rails…too much will take out the metal of the rail and cause low spots and pits …sand it enough and you won’t have rails worth a hoot for a train wheel to run on…go with the bright boy…it’s not abrasive like sand paper…chuck
Use of sand paper in variation never caused me any trouble, but he will use this input and decide what he wants to do, although I understand your concern about using sandpaper. -beegle55
Wow, You guys are great! I have soldered some of the rail joiners, but not all.
the turnout that I am having issues with is an Atlas brand, sounds like it needs a little adjustment with a file. The LHS shold me the eraser type cleaner,and I have cleaned the track.
And it sounds like I have a need for a larger radius on the one corner that is creating issues.
thanks,
Doug
Dough welcome to the hobby, I am new as well and if you read some of my post you will likely find some of are problems will have over lapped.
I have never ran steam yet so I don’t know how or if the wheels move when contack the track. But I had the same problem of lossing power in a turn like yours. Rails where cleaned many times with a bright boy, joints where soldered, wheels where all cleaned on my 12 wheel drive E-6’s and SPD-40. Ran a power tap to the track (flex 36" 24 inch turn) and still dead in the same spot?
I then happen to run a 8 wheel drive F-7A on that line, no power loss? Seems I had drive a few spikes to deep and there was a little bit of a low spot. The longer trucks of the E-6’s and SPD’s would bridge the low spot and lose good contack. Not sure if your steamer could do the same thing or not.
Atlas turn outs are OK at best, if you look at Sept MRR Mag there is a articel about tuning them and I think they cover the Frog height. I have 10 turn outs, 7 are Atlas. If there is a derail it is at the Atlas, 3 are Peco’s # 8’s and never a trun out problem.
If you don’t have a NMRA guage, get one fast! I was to the point of selling all my stuff last week or so, I was done! Bought the gauge and found 40 rolling stock and 3 engines where out of gauge. Plus 4 Proto 2000’s replacment axles where out of gauge as well!
Ken, it warms my heart to read your post. I am very happy that the gauge did so much to help you, and I am sure your confidence in your equipment is high right now.
Welcome to the forum. You have found the right place to get lots of advice, some of which is quite useful. You are also learning that part of the fun is all the variety of problems you have to solve. They all have a learning curve and you seem well on your way. Keep us posted and good luck. Let the fun continue.
so what is a NMRA gauge? and how do I use it? and make adjustments? I work all day making small adjustments on equipment. Just need a little more info.
thanks
You guys are great! and I am having a ball. Sometimes I feel like a little kid again…
Before you get into filing, sanding, scraping or whatever else, buy an NMRA gauge and check the wheelsets of the offending piece. I’ve had brand new cars that had the wheelsets seriously out of gauge. Once I had checked and adjusted the gauge, things were infinitely smoother.
If you’re losing power on a turnout, my guess is that one or both is happening. The frog is not powered and/or the locomotive does not have all wheel pickup. This is especially true of older and/or cheaper models.
The gauge is a thin piece of sheet metal, stainless steel I believe, that has an odd near-rectangular shape around its perimeter. The edges have notches in them to check flange clearances, points gauge, rail gauge, and wheel gauge, but there is even a larger notch on one edge to check clearance to a train station platform, for example, and there is one to check your couplers’ heights. It is a great investment, and as stated, comes with straightforward instructions.
I reach for it several times a day, although I am in the process of building a layout. It won’t be cheap, as in $4.00, but you should leave the store about $12.00 lighter, maybe more.
WARNING: This GAGE is intended only for checking STANDARD dimensions. Misuse as a tool may damage the accuracy of the GAGE.
Figures 3 and 4 below identify the different Components of a turnout for use with the Instructions on the reverse side.
TRACK marks the side of the gage used for checking Track Gage through all trackwork, including turnouts and other special work. Apply light pressure in the direction of the arrow. See figures A, B and C for interpretation of results. (Note that the prongs of the Gage must clear spikes.)
And I say the same thing about bright boy’s, “please don’t use bright boy’s on your rails”. they are abrasive and will put micro-scratches into the surface which then gets dirty again that much quicker. Once a bright boy is used, it has to be used again and again to keep the track clean. Bright boys have been banned from our club layout.
No, Solder is supposed to HOLD a good conducting electrical connection in place. The solder is NOT supposed to be carrying the electricity. Solder is a poor conductor. Soldering without a pre-exsiting good connection is just a lazy man’s way to disguise the real problem with the track. Figure out why there are electrical dead spots before you begin soldering. As cwclark and selector have already said, squeeze the rail joiners or replace them. Check the feeder wire(s) to make certain they are getting the power to the track. Add more feeders if neccessary. Once the power is flowing like it should, then solder.
Texas Zepher, on the solder I hate to say it but you are not quite right. Solder does conduct power. I not sure about the cheap stuff but I use silver solder. I used it to tin (coat copper pick up’s on HO slot cars) so they pick up better and you can tell when they are coated.
With that I will shut up, not meaning to go against someone that knows 50 times more than me.[8)]
I have to agree with Ken on this one, TZ. I used solder to close hairline gaps between flextrack rails on curves when I didn’t want to do any cutting of ties and slid the inside rails into the next section. Otherwise, no continuity. A quick swipe of a tinned iron and my trains lit up on the other side of the gap. Later, I soldered feeders to get past that obstacle for cheap insurance, but until then, the solder worked marvy.
Solder is supposed to be the electrical conductor. But solder is not the mechanical or load bearing component. You make a good mechanical connection first then solder for the electrical connection.
Welcome to the Hobby, I would recamend getting a NMRA Standards guage and a Kadee Couple height guage, Check the height of all your couplers, becuase they could be catching the the Divigering route and the straight through route of your turnouts. As far as Atlas switches go, I’m not sure why everyone has problems with them. I used atlas Code 83 turnouts on my last HO layout never had a problem, the MRR Club i go to is done with ME and Atlas Code 83 turnouts, we have trouble with the ME turnouts and rarely problems with the atlas, When problems do occur with the atlas ones, Its generaly becuase the switch was aligned against the movement or someone backed up through it to fast with crappy cars, OR the trips pins caught a rail.
