Yo. I have a Coal car and a caboose that are not LGB, and are "G" scale. However, they are chronically de-railing! behind my LGB engine/cars... Is this due to weight? or wheels? or, , well, I;m simply frustrated, and not having the answer frustrates my 5 yr old grandson, too!!!!
de-railing issue
Drdouglasdrewyer
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Yo. I have a Coal car and a caboose that are not LGB, and are "G" scale. However, they are chronically de-railing! behind my LGB engine/cars... Is this due to weight? or wheels? or, , well, I;m simply frustrated, and not having the answer frustrates my 5 yr old grandson, too!!!!
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Could be a lot of reasons unfortunately..is it happening in the same place? after going through a switch? gauge of track consistent? size of flange on wheels, always non-lgb cars? what’s different? …Hope you can narrow it down a bit and find the cause.
Sam
Sam
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so very greatful for your response: could it be that these cars are 'light weight' compared to the LGB? also, their wheel bases rotate /twist more than the LGBs? I believe they are Pico trains
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Hi Douglas,
Welcome to MLS.
If you gently push each car by hand from behind, do they derail?
If you think that it is a weight issue, add a little and see if that helps.
Cheers,
David Leech, Canada
Welcome to MLS.
If you gently push each car by hand from behind, do they derail?
If you think that it is a weight issue, add a little and see if that helps.
Cheers,
David Leech, Canada
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start with the track..... not the cars.... check cross level, kinks, imperfections in track joining...
fundamentally, what is the diameter of the curve where it derails..
fundamentally, what is the diameter of the curve where it derails..
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As Havoc recomended, I have found in 65 years of model railroading, that manufacturers wheel sets are very often not to correct back to back speks; check them on any rolling stock which doesn't work. And if it always happens in the same place check the track, gauge, cross level, kinks and peaks in bad joints especially near turnouts.
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I still maintain start at the beginning.... no amount of wheel adjustment will solve bad track issues..
What type of cars, are they normal 4 wheel truck cars, or European style with 2 wheels per truck? Do they have metal wheels. I found early in this hobby, that putting on metal wheels solves 90% of any running issues I have with cars derailing. The other 10% is couplers or couplers not swiveling correctly or hitting parts of the car. I mention that because I have ALL types of knuckle couplers on my cars and knowing which ones couple together and swivel correctly without interference is important. Also, the diameter of curves can have an affect on cars derailing if they weren't designed for smaller curves. I've actually had the most problems derailing with LGB 2 axle coaches more than any others. The biggest piece of advice I can give for those that run 2 axle cars if use hooks on BOTH ends of the cars so both ends use double hook and loop couplers, it makes the cars track properly and fixes most derailing issues.
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European cars have four wheels and US ones 8, you are counting axles... The wider the radius the better. It will function whatever type of cars. It allows notably, body mounted couplers that prevent derailments considerably when backing up (so called "talgo" mounted couplers on the truck itself are a constant source of trouble). Also the size of turnouts if using buffers, is most important with N° 8 switches you wont get any buffer locking. And quite obviously, avoid bad track at all cost. Improving the quality of the track is never time wasted. Another advantage is that you will have plenty of friends who want to come and run on your pike if the trackwork is good. So, it is well worth your time.
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Since the OP's question has been answered several times, want to mention something interesting about "talgo" couplers.
Originally designed to help trains negotiate tight curves because they center the coupler better in the center of the track
Manufacturers realized that prototypically long cars with body mounts can project not only the end of the car far away from the centerline of the track, but also the couplers, making coupling and operation iffy in tight curves.
But you get bitten in the butt when backing longer trains with talgo truck. This is because when pushing on the couplers, the "compression" will put sideways force on the couplers, one side or the other.. unavoidable.
But since the coupler is attached to the truck, now you force the truck to "skew" within the rails and the undue force will create binding, friction, and eventually derailments.
So, what to do:
1. Like Simon said, BROAD CURVES, as broad as you can make them.
2. car lengths should be kept appropriate to the curves you have
3. shorter trains
4. body mount couplers... they will actually work BETTER if your car lengths are appropriate.
This is something all of us have learned over the years. At first the coupler mounting is counter intuitive, but it's true!
Greg
Originally designed to help trains negotiate tight curves because they center the coupler better in the center of the track
Manufacturers realized that prototypically long cars with body mounts can project not only the end of the car far away from the centerline of the track, but also the couplers, making coupling and operation iffy in tight curves.
But you get bitten in the butt when backing longer trains with talgo truck. This is because when pushing on the couplers, the "compression" will put sideways force on the couplers, one side or the other.. unavoidable.
But since the coupler is attached to the truck, now you force the truck to "skew" within the rails and the undue force will create binding, friction, and eventually derailments.
So, what to do:
1. Like Simon said, BROAD CURVES, as broad as you can make them.
2. car lengths should be kept appropriate to the curves you have
3. shorter trains
4. body mount couplers... they will actually work BETTER if your car lengths are appropriate.
This is something all of us have learned over the years. At first the coupler mounting is counter intuitive, but it's true!
Greg
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For what's worth, several times I have found those small plastic springs LGB uses on the couplers tend to break or come out of the hole in the coupler. When they do you are not going to get a great connection with the next car. I am getting ready to work on a LGB Santa Fe Mogul starter set that always seems to have derailing problems. The couplers on the cars have a plastic rod and not the plastic springs. I am going to try to convert the couplers to the springs to see if that helps any. The double connectors hooks on the couplers is a good idea too.
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Actually double hooking can cause derailments.
Why do you think the couplers are involved in derailments? Uncoupling is distinct from derailing.
Greg
Why do you think the couplers are involved in derailments? Uncoupling is distinct from derailing.
Greg
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To confirm what Greg said about appropriate car length, in those balmy days when Walthers made fine metal and wood passenger car kits, they advertised a line of shorty heavyweight passenger cars (based on a C&NW suburban prototype, if I remember correctly), especially for those who used tight radius curves. Likewise most outside platform wood narrow gauge passenger cars, made by (LGB, Bachman, Aristo etc) are somewhat shortened. And then there was the Sierra cars for really short radiusses too. In HO for years Marklin scaled the sides of their passenger cars to 1/100 scale instead of 1/87!
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Greg, maybe I am confusing it with not enough experience, but what I meant is the one car becomes decoupled along with those behind it because of those plastic springs. Unless you are standing there carefully watching the train, the engine comes back around and runs into the decoupled cars causing a derailment. I haven't seen the double hooking cause derailment but again no experience with it happening.
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decoupled is not derailing... derailing is off the rails, like ddcoupling is not coupled...
so, double hook 2 cars on your kitchen table (no track)
slide them "across" each other so the 2 hook hit each other
depending on the design, the hooks my flex and no problem, or they don't and limit your "sliding"
it should become visually obvious what is happening...
this is a simplistic explanation of all the things that can happen... if you decouple on straight track, you may have defective parts, bad track levelling, or many other items...
the best way is to see if you can set up an "operation" that always makes it happen, and then do it over and over again watching it until you see what causes the unhooking
so, double hook 2 cars on your kitchen table (no track)
slide them "across" each other so the 2 hook hit each other
depending on the design, the hooks my flex and no problem, or they don't and limit your "sliding"
it should become visually obvious what is happening...
this is a simplistic explanation of all the things that can happen... if you decouple on straight track, you may have defective parts, bad track levelling, or many other items...
the best way is to see if you can set up an "operation" that always makes it happen, and then do it over and over again watching it until you see what causes the unhooking
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