for that past few weeks i have slowly been laying down roadbed and track…small sections at a time. The roadbed is glued to 2" foam, then the code 83 track is glued to that. Most of it is flex except for the 22" curves are sectional. after each section of track, i would run some cars over it and then the loco under power… all seemed well.
Now I have about 3/4 of the layout done and I thought I would run the loco all the way around all completed sections of track. It seemed the loco was doing fine, but then I noticed one of the wheels would be off the track…actually 2 wheels… the locos have 6 wheels up front (3 axles) and 6 in back. the back wheel on both front and back on the outer rail will be off the track slightly. I only have a couple of lamps in this room so at night its not that bright, so I will check in the morning to see if I can find out what is going on…
the cars all work fine.
As I have read some forum posts about derailments, they talk about making sure joints are not kinked up and down or left and right…also to check track guage and wheel gage.
what I did NOT see in these posts is…how do you fix those types of issues? With the track and roadbed gluded down, if I have a section of track that pops up a bit… do I just file it? say the issue is caused by the styrofoam not being level, maybe a little foam was pushed down and is causing a dip in the track… Can the track be unglued somehow and shimmed up?
On the track gauage, how do you get the track to be in gauge? I know about the track guage device which I need to buy… but do you just bend the track to make it fit? or does the gage do this by running it along the track?
I apologize for so many newbie questions.
At least its not too much of an issue as all of the other cars seem fine.
First, check the loco for binding, it must swivel left to right and up and down. You’ll need to get an NMRA gauge (from your LHS) and make sure the wheels of the loco are in gauge as well, as it seems your cars are not giving you any problems. What model and brand of loco is it? Is this happening everywhere or just in curves? What is your sharpest curve? What did you glue down the track with?
Run your fingers along the top of the rails and feel for imperfections.
Lay a ruler on the track lengthwise and look to see if either rail goes up or down beneath it. If one rail lifts or drops while the other stays level it can play havoc with with locos having 6 or more axles while a 4 axle loco will go over it without a problem. If it’s a case of one side of the track dipping then you need to push a wedge of paper or wood under that side to lift it. If it’s a case of a rail lifting then you need to remove material from under that side of the track.
Modelmaker, one loco is an Atlas Dash 8 40 and another is an atlas gp-38. The glue is wood glue.
Curves 22" sectional
Today ill try and get the track guage and ill try the ruler/level along the track. if the rail goes up, what is the best way to make it go down? since it is foam under, would I just push down until level? since it does squish if you push hard enough.
It only happens so far somewhere along that curve. I do not have all of the track down so I can not do afull loop yet, but its ok on the straight parts and on some flex transition curves, I hope to find out the exact place sometime today.
laying perfect track is time concuming and can be frustrating. however, the end results are well worth the effort: perfectly running equipment without derails (forwards and backwards).
perfect rails begins with the subroad bed and continues through all the layers of material to the track itself. ie: if anything is not flat & level, the rails will not be either.
the ruler meatod is a good technique if the rail is already in place. if you find a low spot, place a shim of thin wood/platic under the 'low section to raise it to the correct level. if the rail has a high spot (or the other rail is low?), dig a bit below the track (find the softest materisl used in your layers of roadbed) and remove thin depths until the rails are level. either way, this is a time consuming process, but the end results are well worth it.
if a section has multiple issues, it might be easier to remove the track and fix the roadbed, then relay the track. removing track which is attached with adheasives can be accomplished with a thin putty knife. slowly scrape beneath the ties with gentle upward pressure to romove the ties from the roadbed. every six inches or so, place a thin piece of wood/plastic to keep the ties slightly above the roadbed. this will help prevent bent/kinked track. fix the issues with the roadbed, clean the removed section of track (warm soapy water) and re-install the track.
another technique to remove the track is to get a piece of fishing line and thread it under the ties. firmly grab the fishing line and drag it under the ties slicing the adheasive. use the wood/plastic shims as stated above.
after i lay my cork roadbed, i always run a 1x2 (2’ long) covered with course sandpaper along the top of the cork. this removes all the high or low spots and makes a ‘almost’ perfect final layer for the rails to sit upon. track laying is a skill set all in its self: spend the time getting
well now that its light in the room I can see and duplicate the issue. it only happens in reverse and it is happening on a section of track that I have with a large gap…I posted something on this gap earlier in a thread called Gap in Track. In that thread I had said the gap was not causing a problem but I must of only been going forward in the tests.
I am going to take Wazzy’s suggestion and hunker down and replace 2 pieces of section track that follows some flex, and replace with some more flex and rid not only the gap, but hopefully the derailment.
Below are pics of the gap, 2 of the locos, and a few pics of the wheel off the track and some pics of the general area…also a pic of a track worker taking a break lol.
That’s quite a gap! Cut yourself a short piece of rail and grind or file the web (the wide part that goes in the joiner until it can stand in the joiner. Put some paste flux in the gap and stand the piece of rail in it. Once that’s done solder it in place.
Yes it is and its been bugging me…I took Wazzy’s suggestion and I pulled 2) 22" radius section track pieces up…I used the putty knife as suggested. I then took a rag and some hot water and soaked the glue and it came right up! I took the putty knife to a couple of stubborn sections. I sanded it and wow, it looks perfect.
As soon as the roadbed dries, ill lay in a new piece of flex and I bet its gonna run like a champ.
I would of done this before but I didnt realize how easy it was to pull the track up. I will have pics when I am finished later today.
You folks are great, I really appreciate all of your help and suggestions.
well I think im in good shape…the Broadway Limited Proto 2000 works great in both directions…however the atlas models…still have issues. One still has a problem in reverse on the front truck real wheel coming off ever so slightly in reverse and the other atlas has a problem with the rear truck rear wheel derailing only in reverse…and only barely coming off… so I am thinking now it is an Atlas issue…maybe weight and or wheel spacing? I am happy with the track repair. click the link to see pics of the repaire from start to finish. I want to send you a few without the thumb tacks but I need more light before I can take those… (I have some strobes, but I will wait til daylight).
What I think is that you have an almost imperceptible kink in the inside rail right at the joint. It looks like thejoint is a little farther in toward the middle than it needs to. An NMRA gauge will tell the tale.
