Fed up with Rivarossi FEF-3 4-8-4

My PCM T1 does this and am considering an ounce of weight in the smokebox to hold it down.

But Im betting the curve radius is a little bit tighter than the 4 coupled wheels can stand.

My radius is 30 inches. The front driver comes up on all 4 corners of the oval. I may try to add some weight to the front like was mentioned earlier. I am in college away from my layout but when I go back next week I will work some more on it.

Is the radius of your curve 30" or the diameter 30"? I’m suspecting a misunderstanding of terms here because you mention coming off the track on all 4 corners of an oval. To have an oval with a 30" radius means a table more than 5ft wide, or an around-the-walls layout. 30" radius track in sectional form is not all that easy to find. But a 30" diameter (15" radius) curved track is readily available, and will fit nicely on a 4x8 or even smaller. To add to the confusion, the 3 rail O boys spec their track curves by diameter, as in O27, O31, O42, instead of radius.

Not trying to be insulting here - just trying to make sure we are all coming from the same reference point. If I’m all wet, tell me to bug off and I’ll slink quietly to my corner and lurk some more.

Fred W

The layout goes around 4 walls of a 12x16 room. The track is shaped in an oval form that looks like Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the radius is 30" made out of Atlas flex track. On my 4x8 I had 18"radius sectional track so I know that it is not what is on my current layout.

Does it do it in the same place going in either direction?

I would remove the pilot truck and see if that has any effect on the problem.

Jim

I then humbly apologize for suggesting something stupid. You knew what you were doing and I didn’t. Now returning to my lurking corner.

Fred W

Does it happen at a joint in the flex on the curves? It seems that even when you think you’ve done it right (or at least when I think I’ve done it right) you can get a little kink, or out of gauge track, at the joint. I have managed to do this a couple of times. Almost everything goes through it fine, but we’ve got a AC4400 (relevant as it has long 6 wheel trucks) that will toss a set of wheels despite everything slse being happy. It is a pain to fix mine, they are in a helix, and I can hardly get my hands in, let alone a soldering iron. Anyway, it is something to look at.