I was talking to my LHS owner the other day and he gave me a good idea to find problems in my track. He suggest running a 16 car train around your layout in reverse. So the engines are pushing from the back of the train. I thought my track was pretty straight but after I did the test I found many problems in my track. I fixed the problems and now the train runs much smoother.
Has anyone heard of this or done it before? If so did it work. If you haven’t anyone up for the challenge of trying the test? Leave me feedback if your try it.
Andy
SAFTEY WARNINGS: Running your trains to fast could result in cars flying off the layout. So start slow and make your way up to a reasonable speed. Be prepared to stop the train as soon as you hear a derail cause cars will easily jackknife and could do damage to your layout. SO just be alert and keep a slow speed.
well that is a great idea. I have never ran the train backwards to long. but i have run a 10 car train around my line once. it did derail once but that was were a rail joiner came off the rail on a curve an the rail shifted inward.
Hey great idea! I usually run lots of commuter trains in push-pull operations so I have run many backwards, but I just ran a consist twice as long as my usual longest and found a good few problems.
Thanks!
Running a train in reverse is also a great way to find problems with individual pieces of rolling stock. I read somewhere that after you tune up a car (add weight and adjust the trucks and apply knuckle couplers), that a great way to determine if you’ve done a good job is to run the car in a train at gradually higher speeds, in both directions. If the car doesn’t derail, you’ve done a good job. If you’ve tightened the truck screws too much or if the car is underweight, this test will find the problem. It will also help detect when wheels are out of gauge.
Hope this helps.
Mondo
While I couldn’t run a 16-car train on my layout without several cars hanging off one end, the idea of running trains in reverse to find trouble spots is a good one. I do a lot of switching so it isn’t uncommon for me to push cars ahead of the engine, and that is when I usually find that hidden problem…just keep in mind that the problem might be the cars! Once you’re sure that the car isn’t underweight , the coupler height is correct, and your wheels are good (gotta love those Intermountain semi-scale wheelsets!) you can know for sure that if there’s a problem, the track is the culprit.
Running a train backwards is a sure-fire way to push your rolling stock off of the track if you are using horn-hook couplers. With Kadees, I have been able to push a 36-car train backwards up a 2.5% grade, on a curve, with no derailments. The theory behind pushing cars backwards is that you are exerting pressure on the couplers, so if they are no good your rolling stock will get pushed off the track on curves or going uphill.
Good advice cacole. I run kadee’s so I forgot to mention this. Hornhook couplers won’t work on this test and neither will the truck mounted couplers. Both will make the cars derail because of how they are set up. Thanks for the catch.
Andy