I have posted on a few threads on this subject before, and drawn a few comments, but i think it does deserve attention. I have difficulty getting my trains to run well enough to actually operate, rather than just run. That is, if you want to be able to shift cars, make up trains, drop cars at precise locations on Sidings, or spot them over the control rails on your remot operating track sections, you need to have everything operating close to 100 percent. Among the things which hamper me in doing this are unwanted stops for no apparent reason in the vicinity of (20 year old) Gargraves switches (they have a junction of the center rail on the “points” end of the turnout where rail meets a wider sheetmetal piece that allows for the pickup rollers to take eiter parth through the turnout but not lose center conductor contact–Is that bad design?) or poor sequence of short cars (the original log dumper or immediate post war gondola) and long cars (the Lehigh Valley hoppers brought out approx 1954). to say nothing of the troublesome slider shoes on passenger cars though about 1954.
Further, I have recently found on the web a site dedicated to the recreation of the 1949 showroom layout which I very well recall. Some video of the showroom layout is included (Iron Poinies, a well known promotion film). It seems to me that they operate at relatively great speed, as they pack up and spot cars for unloading milk, or coupling to the top of the coal unloading ramp. To do that they must have great confidence in the equipment. I know that I probably am somewhat less attentive than I might be to maintaining my equipment, like scraping crud off the wheels ( i do keep the wheel sets lubed) but I imagine i probably have a fair amount of company. almost all attempts to run a series of realistic operations seem to be interrupted by a slow moving trainstoppoing as it crosses a turnout which would cause no trouble at highball speeds, or a long train having a few cars
Sounds like you may have a multitude of problems causing your frustration, some within your control, some not.
Seems your switches are causing most of your problems. 20 years is a long time for a Gargraves switch, the rails may not be in gauge, and the sparking probably happening over the years has probably pitted the rails somewhat, and no amount of cleaning is going to fix that.
From your thread, I’m thinking you are running postwar. Age is a factor there, both in design, and length of time. It’s hard to keep an items from the 50’s running like it did when new. Changing the rollers may help, but seems like you can never get everything clean, and even if you did, bushings and wheels, and gears, etc., just have enough wear by now, that it just isn’t new anymore.
Cleaning the wheels (That crud has to come off!), and track will help. Replacing the rollers will help. A good hard look at wether the switches should be kept or exchanged may also be a consideration. Slide shoes are always going to be a potential problem, especially when using track other than Lionel’s. At some point,
You’ll probably come up with a happy medium, but probably not perfection.
Joseph L. Mania, in addition to those great train movies and among other items he sells, has replacement sound units, for the NOMA train station, which replaces the original turn table and record disk.
I have posted in the past that the sound unit fits right inside the station and is powered by two ‘D’ sized dry cell batteries and is activated with the button on the top of the tower.
The sound is clearer and louder, than the original record disk with turn table unit.
Stewart, I will second what was said once here, but clean wheels and track ARE important. It is just the nature of the system, but any build up of “crud” on the wheels WILL interfere will good smooth operation.
When I buy used postwar cars, I remove the trucks and clean them up real good using WD-40. I see the differnece in operation after doing that. For periodic cleaning, I make use of a Dremel tool with a wire brush attachment, also using a towel or napkin wet with 91% Isopropyl Alcohol. I clean wheels even on more modern stuff with fast angle wheels… it does make a difference. Clean track too, is an essential.
Gargraves at some point made improvements to their switches. But I use Lionel 027 switches, which have their own liabilities. I have soldered feeder wires on problem switches and solved most of my problems.
May I suggest, if your track is old, that you remove all the cars and locos and using a small cut sponge wet with WD-40, wipe down all the rails (trying to keep the WD-40 off plastic parts) and let that set overnight. Next day, use a 3M green nylon scrubbing pad (or any similar make) and with a little elbow grease, scrub all the rails and then wipe them down good with several clean rags. The WD-40 works wonders to help get any crud off the rails, and also will give them a protective coating to help slow down any deterioration of the coating that was originally on the rails. This has worked fine for me.
Ordinary 91% Isopropyl Alcohol will also help clean your track as well as being handly for cleaning wheels. Why the 91% over the 50%? It has less filler and dries quicker.
My own trains are hardly top shelf and I don’t use any fancy controls or digital anything. Yes, I have made some alterations to be sure, such as running my layout on DC current. And I remount/reattach the trucks on just about every single train car I own, which has all but elim
I read all the posts with interest, and I’m really pleased that I posted a website that at least to one (and probably a few more), was unknown; I read a few forums on various subjects --trains, University of Michigan Football (now that’s hard work these days) and no one has ever paid any regard to any post of mine; What a great day this is starting off to be.
That said, I didn’t point out the fact that on many sets built in the 50’s, folks used 031 or 027 track, and I’m sure they had many sidings which had a reverse curve coming out of a turnout to lead to a siding parallel to the main line; I find such allignments a constant source of troubling annoying derailments Is that merely because my wheelsets are not scrupulously cleaned? So that if you have a loco and 2 6462 NYC gondolas and then last in line a milk car backing up thorugh that alligment to drop the milk car, the gondolas which are lighter don’t derail because of the greater resistance of the heavier car at the end? That is my frequent experience with my mostly 1955 or earlier cars. I know that i could buy newer lighter equipment withe better wheelsets, but I want the stuff I have, mostly 1955 or before, two operate they it was represented that it could. The more modern stuff doesm’t take me back to the place I want to be!
The comment re gargraves turnouts deteriorating over 20 years is reasonable, but I feel the problems there may have to do some change in the conductivity of their center conductor; perhaps pitting (I’m not home looking at the stuff, but I don’t think it is particularly pitted, but I could be wrong) is at the root. But thanks for the comments re cleaning techniques; I hate to do that stuff. How often do you have to do that? I only have 40 -50 cars; I’m sure many of you have many more, but it still seems like a dauntless task.
40-50 cars! Wow, sounds like a lot…you got me thinking. Took a fast inventory. You’re correct. Boy, how the numbers add up (and how much has been invested). BUT, it is a great hobby and “it’s only money”. Thanks for the thread and keep us updated.
I have an 027 layout with postwar switches and I run postwar engines and cars. When hauling light and heavy cars, keep the heavy ones toward the front. This is normal operation and will keep the derailments to a minimum in either forward or reverse directions.
I also like to run slow and have few problems doing so as long as the wheels and pickups are kept clean. If the engine stalls over switches, the problem could be the middle rail pickup rollers. I clean them by spraying a small amount of WD40 into a tiny disposable cup. I cut the cup down so that the pickup roller will fit inside and be completely immersed in the WD40. Then I spin the roller around several times, and clean roller off with a paper towel. I clean engine and car wheels with Goo-Gone (alchohol is fine too) on a paper towel. If the buildup is real heavy, I use a small screwdriver to first scrape the gunk off the wheels then use the Goo-Gone. On postwar cars, wheels need to be lubricated regularly, a tiny drop of oil on each wheel/axle. I clean and oil all engines and cars after about 4 hours of continuous operation. I also clean the track regularly, mostly with a microfiber cloth or if it’s really dirty, with Goo-Gone on a cloth. I’m not familiar with Gargraves switches but I do pay close attention to my postwar and make sure they are clean. Another problem you may be having with stalling engines on switches is that the engine center rail rollers might be contacting the side rail switch parts and causing a momentary short that then will cause the engine to cycle to neutral. On one of my switches I had this problem occasionally with several engines. After closely examining what was happening, I found the part of the switch that was being shorted against the pickup roller. I solved this by putting a small piece of tape on that part of the switch and have had no problems since. If a certain engine cons
I have seen the youtube videos of David’s 027 layout and they are really great. I did’nt notice any switching, and would love it if you would video that, so that I could see it and get a sense of the operational speed and nature of any reverse curves out of switches. From what people have posted here, there needs to be a lot of time devoted to maintenance which while I’m still in the building phase, I don’t prioritize; I always want to be making progress so I can justify to my wife the time spent by demonstrating newly operational trackage. But-- this thread has been a great ad for WD-40, which I never would have thought of as a cleaning agent.
By the way, on David’s layout there is the use of a diode scheme for voltage change on up and down grades. Is there a way to build to mirror image circuits so that one can reverse the scheme if the train goes through a reverse loop and is now heading the opposite way? perhaps a SPDT or DPDT switch to control power routing to track for direction A or B?
I have read your post about using GarGraves track and switches. Twenty plus years can be a long time for any switch to last. GarGraves switches over the years were wired underneath sometimes to bridge the center rails together and other times their switches are completely seperate for the center rail power, in other words the three center rails are not connected electrically; examples their 072 switches and current production of the 042 switches.
Other things I have noticed with GarGraves track is that when you have a derailment the track may become bent at the place of derailment, like when a heavy engine jumps the track or falls over onto the track. A tip about the GarGraves unloading track, put some metal track pins in the ends of the unloading rails and bend them down a little to about an eigth of an inch below track heigth to prevent derailments.
Like others have said make sure that your postwar wheels are clean!! I have bought a few postwar frieght cars at train shows and have had to clean the wheels because they looked like they were totally out of round but it was major dirt build-up.