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Problems on Switches and Turnouts
Steve used a link on this page to post this question:
“I am operating a 060 Tank locomotive but am having problems on turnouts. At slow speed it stops. When I run it faster it sometimes derails. The loco appears to rise a little as it goes through the points. Has anyone got any suggestions please?”
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6 Responses to Problems on Switches and Turnouts
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Had the same problem with Bachmann EZ Track switches. Check the guard rail and frog on the switch. I took a nippers and file and beveled the edges of both the guard rails and frogs on all of my Bachmann switches. That ended the problem. I can now run my big steam with 40-50 cars with no problems. Hope that helps.
I have an issue lime this aswell with one or two of my locomotives. The club I attend say alot of the time that it is due to the turnout guides catching on the wheels of the locomotive. They said it usually happens because the wheels on the locomotive are out of guage. Meaning they are either too wide or to shallow to travel care free past the guides
Hi. Had the same problem when running an old Hornby on Machano points, I ran a needle file through the guard and the rail till it fitted
The problem not raised so far is that the flanges on your loco are too deep.
Often referred to as “cookie-cutter” wheels.
I model in 009 or HOn30 I have one loco bought for its mechanism, which derails at every point (turnout). All other locos pass all the way around, either fast or slow, with no problems.
Close examination on this one reveals that although the wheels are within “in gauge” tolerances, the flanges are slightly deeper than any other loco.
Check your loco wheels for flange depth as well as back-to-back spacing.
Hope this is of use.
Bernard
Check wheel flange depth and the depth of the points (turn outs). Insufficient depth of the points could be lifting the loco
I had to glue a plastic insert at the V point of the frog. because my shorter engines would fall in the hole and sometimes derail. So i extended the point of the V.