I’ve got a kink. As hard as I’ve tried to avoid them, I got one anyway. And this one isn’t on a butt joint, I’ve tried to avoid those too. All my locos run over it fine, except my 2-6-6-4 when going in reverse over the area. Then the rear set of drivers derail. Going in reverse I guess they’d be the front drivers. But, so far, it doesn’t do it when the loco is in forward.
I’ve already glued the HO Atlas flex track down to the cork roadbed which is on extruded foam. I filed the joint a little to get rid of a slight mismatch in the track height. Is there a way to fix kinks such as this without a major overhaul?
Thanks for any help.
Jarrell
I have had some luck (not universal) putting a little pressure against the kink and giving it a tap with the soldering iron to straighten the joint just a bit. Keep the pressure on while the solder resolidifies.
Sometimes (not always) putting a small shim under the road bed helps. If it always derails on the same side, put the shim under that side. If that does not help, try more shim. If it just starts derailing on the other side, take the shims out and try someting else. I have had to relay chunks of track, but the shims work oftener than not. Usually 1/64 inch is about where I start but this is not an exact sience.
If you take a flat piece of straight steel cut to a length that when layed against the outside of the rail, will contact the rail about 4 ties from the joint in both directions. With a pair of pliers, gently squeeze the joint to the steel. The kink should dissapear. The steel must be stronger then the rail and depending on it’s thickness a slip-joint pliers may be needed. Ken
Thanks for the suggestions guys. I’ll give it a go a see if I can correct it.
Jarrell
I would take a very slight gap out of the outer rail, opposite the kink, and put pressure on the outside rail toward the kink. That should tend to close the gap you cut, but also cause the curve to conform and rid you of the kink…I think.
Jarrell
Is that a rail joiner i see there?if so it looks like it needs to be moved to center and maybe compressed a little?
JIM
Thanks for the replies. Yes Jim, that’s a railjoiner. I’ll try moving it and tighting it a bit.
Jarrell
Jarrell,
Is that railjoiner soldered? If not, that’s the trouble. I assume the kink is inward. If you can tweak the rail as mentioned with the small straight plate/ pliers method then you should solder the joint to keep it there. All while doing this you need to keep checking the gauge, if you fix the kink and throw the rails out of gauge, you may end up w/ additional problems.
Also, have the two ties directly under the rail joiner been filed/ grooved for the thickness of the joiner. If not, this can put an unwanted hump at the joint.
Bob K.