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Tender Derailment
Kevin has G scale and asks:
“My tender on my 20th century passenger train leaves the track on just one of the curves and not the other three. Any ideas why? Thanks.”
SUBMIT YOUR QUESTION
WITH Any Gauge, Curve too sharp, or TRACKS out of Gauge, PINs or screws in too hard
Take a car that is leaving the track and isolate it by itself.
Clear the rails and set this car on the track.
Eyeball the wheels and flanges from all angles as you roll thru the problem area.
If cars are too light and too long, are you pulling the consist into the center of the curve?
Are the knuckles jumping and coming apart?
Is the curve too sharp for the distance between trucks and the angle in which the knuckles rotate?
Is there a switch involved?
Do shorter trains make the curve and longer ones do not ?
Are all cars weighted to specs?
If the curves are all the same radius, check the track carefully. Make sure it is in gauge. Check the car’s wheels to make sure they’re also in gauge. Look at the track to make sure there isn’t a bit of debris in the rail’s web that is hitting the wheel flange.
Sounds more like the track than the tender, if all the curves are equal. Try and find out where on the curve it happens. Could be the track is a little out of alignment, or there’s a bump.
Couple ideas, the track could be out of gauge. Or there could be a low spot. Or the tender truck is not completely down on the rail. I’ve had all of these
Check the track at that curve is not warped, it could be causing the wheels to rise up and the flanges to dislocate
I’ve found that sometimes the joiners on the track are either miss aligned or one rail is raised slightly.
Look at the truck. I have had one that hit a piece of the car when on a tight curve but worked well on others. Run the opposite way and see if the tender still derails.