Here’s a topic bound to generate some controversy.
I’ve settled on my track plan in my shelf layout and have been running test trains of all the different freight car types I have. It’s anecdotal I know, but it seems like whenever a freight car derails, doesn’t track well, or has wheels out of alignment, it’s one of two brands: Athearn RTR or Intermountain. Athearn doesn’t surprise me–you get what you pay for. But IMRC problems do surprise me. To be fair to IMRC, the only cars I am having consistent problems with are their 4750 cubic foot grain hoppers.
On the positive side, Atlas and Walthers cars almost never give me any problems.
don’t just rely on out of the box drop on layout scheme, have an inspection process and check over the car for problems and fix them.
One of the best investments I have made in this hobby is my NMRA HO track gauge. Used correctly it will prevent 99% of the problems that get posted on this and other forums. Once I had checked my track to make sure the rails were still properly spaced and the wheel sets on every car and locomotives were properly spaced the only thing that causes a derailment on my layout is when the dummy driving the train enters a turnout with the switch thrown the wrong way.
BTW I’m the only person who has operated on this layout[B)]
One issue is whether your minimum radius actually is a good match for the equipment. Longer cars, body mounted couplers, detailed underframes, and correct to scale carbody height all pose a challenge that older or smaller prototype equipment does not.
As suggested above use the NMRA gauage to check the wheels (and your track of course). It can also be used to check coupler height although I use the Kadee jig for that.
I have operated on layouts where nearly all the derailments could be traced not to out of gauge wheels, but to kinked track that visually looked OK until you see a car try to negotiate an angle rather than a curve!
Check how easily the trucks swivel – do things like brake lines or coupler boxes interfere? The greater detail of today’s models has introduced some potential trouble spots in this regard. Many times a poorly tracking car turns out to have some slight bit of interference between wheels and floor or bolster. Kadee makes those thin washers to raise cars; you hate to do that if the car body height is correct to scale, but the main point is to make the car run.
Couplers. Do they move easily side to side? Some of them get hung up on small irregularities in the plastic mounting. I know guys who use Kadee metal couplers who never burnish the shafts the way Kadee instructs and they suffer the consequences and wonder why. Kadee makes a powdered graphite that can help but burnishing the shaft has to be done as a routine matter.
Weight. I have a digital scale and a chart on the wall of NMRA weight standards for various lengths of cars. I try to follow the NMRA standards but flats and gons when empty and some RTR tank cars are not always possible. Some modelers believe it is more important to be consistent within your own fleet than it is to follow NMRA standards. They may have a point I suppose.
Dave
A huge factor people dont think about when it comes to freight cars is that you want a 3 point support system when it comes to the trucks. What this means is that you have a truck that will only swivel in the X/Y plane, and a truck that will pivot in the X/Y/Z plane. This allows the car to negotiate rough or bad trackage very well.
If you have both trucks that only swivel in the X/Y plane, then you will have a car that wont like any trackage that has any vertical imperfections to it.
David B
Excellent points everyone–and I do have an NMRA gauge, and some of the problems are caused by imperfect wheel spacing. I do like the X/Y/Z truck comment–a very good point as my shelf layout has its shares of minor ups and downs because of the way it was constructed. That almost certainly is accounting for the IMRC hopper tracking problem. However, not to pile on Athearn, I think in general they just make poorer quality freight cars. An example is their MAXI III series of well cars. I had a set with imperfect wheels and even the set I had that ran well was so poorly weighted that it was prone to coming off the tracks. Walthers, on the other hand, made their cars totally out of metal and the weight difference really tells.
One point I have on the Iintermountain 4750’s - I am not a fan of their multi-piece truck design. It looks great, but I’m not very impressed with these trucks in layout service. I have replaced the trucks on my 4750’s with Accurail trucks with IM wheels and personally I think they perform better.
Just one opinion.
Gary
Athearn RTR are some of the best running cars you can buy. Hands Down.
I replace all wheelsets with metal wheels and axles for rolling stock that doesn’t already come that way. This saves a lot of frustration.
Mark
Plastic couplers are replaced by Kadee ones when (Not if) they fail.
Should a car derail, a pin is placed. Three pins on the track earns a MOW trip. If the same car derails twice it gets sent to the workbench while thoughts about operator error or other issues like 86’ high cube trying to run a number 4 switch.
I give up alot with my large radius curves but I dont derail on them which was a problem in the past.
Dinwitty, could you expand/explain your inspection process? Seem like I am having the same type of problems
Mike Dickinson
I’ll have to agree with that commet. I haven’t had any problems with my Athearn fleet: cars or engines.
Walthers products is a whole 'nother story.