turnout derailing

[sherdog3]

I have a few cars that have a hard time remaining on the rails of my ez track turnouts, will replacing the plastic wheels with steel help? what are the best quality cars to buy.

[Jim Banner]

Your best bet is to check the gauge of the wheels.  Your local hobby shop or online dealer should be able to supply you with an NMRA track and wheel gauge for H0.  This link will show you what they look like:

http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/98-1

In my opinion, a track and wheel gauge is one of the three "must have" tools when when it comes to troubleshooting your railroad.  The other two are a small, 12 volt light bulb with clip leads to check electrical problems and a low cost postal or dietary scale to check car weights.

Jim

[jwbr50]

I was having this problem today with a brand new nickel/silver turnout.  After much frustration and many dirty words, I found the problem.  As you come into the turnout from the single end, you first meet the movable points.  Continue toward the frog and you will find fixed rails in the shape of a V with the open end toward you.  In my case, one of these fixed rails did not align with the back side of the movable points.  When a wheel hit this, there would be an audible click and instant derailment.  A little careful adjusting with my needle nose pliers and no more problems!  I hope this is of help to you.

[sherdog3]

I appreciate the help, I will check mine later. Thanks.

[jward]

jim
you forgot coupler height guage. low coupleer height can cause derailments and break couplers.......and to the original poste, a low coupler pin will often hang up in the frog area of the switch so if that's where they are coming off look closely at the pins.....

[timhar47]

Wow - there are several posts all about the trials and trib's of E-Z turnouts. As I have said before, I am just getting back into HO, and of my 10-12 Standard switches, only one has a small miss-allignment on 1 point. The new #4 switches are fine also.
One new thing that happened to me was this - all of a sudden, every time the train hit a particular switch(not the one mentioned above), off the rails it went - I was befuddled, as I had no problems up to this point. I then found the turnout green wire had moved some, and was 'jacking up' the side of the turnout - yep only about 1/16 + inch, but that was enough to cause the derail. I pulled the wire back to its little notch, and no more derails - soooo - obviously a level switch(side to side) is very important.

[jward]

it's not so much the levelness of the track, but the sudden twist that throws things off the track. some modellers actually bank their curves so that trains lean toward the center of the curve, with good results. but their transitions from level to tilted are gradual.

[Tedshere]

  Here's my experience with EZ Track remote turnouts. First I had to do some filing and very slight bending. That reduced my derails significantly but not completely. I'm running a 2-8-4 on 18" curves. A lot of my problems were with the pilot and trailing trucks. So I took them off. That helped quite a bit more. I'm new at this and am learning as I go. I've done a little tinkering with the frogs, and will start paying closer attention to the coupler pins.

[Joe323]

For what its worth I found most of my derailments were caused by low coupler pins. After adjustment (Kadee makes a tool for this) no more derailments (Mostly).

[richd286]

One of my turnouts had a condition that caused frequent derailments.  The points were not held firmly in place against the rail nor were they held to the track section below the points.  The bracket was loose enough that the points would rock slightly and loose enough that the vibration from a passing train moved the points out from the track.  The trick is to stablize the points without binding them.  Sufficient tension needs to be maintained to keep the points in place under use.  When placing a turnout for the final build, a critical evaluation of its serviceability needs to be made, especially if it will occupy a remote or a high traffic location.

[Jim Banner]

jim
you forgot coupler height guage. low coupleer height can cause derailments and break couplers.......and to the original poste, a low coupler pin will often hang up in the frog area of the switch so if that's where they are coming off look closely at the pins.....

A coupler height gauge does indeed make a great fourth tool, but it is not absolutely essential.  My trusty NMRA track and wheel gauge has a slot for measuring coupler height and the gauge itself is 1/32" thick, exactly right for checking the height of the coupler pins.  If the pin will clear the gauge laid flat on the track, it will clear all the parts of a properly made turnout.  But watch out for Kadee uncoupling magnets - occasionally you will find one that sticks up more than 1/32" above the tops of the rails.  Or am I the only one still using Kadee #321 uncoupling magnets?

Kadee coupler pin pliers are also a great tool to have but somehow we managed without it for years and years before it was invented.  Same with a journal reamer.  We have come a long way since the days when my tool box was limited to a rock, a bent butter knife and a dull pair of kid's scissors.

Jim

[timhar47]

Well hello again - so I am going to ask the naughty question, the one I have yet to see, or maybe I missed it.
Some background first - What I have seen, over a few years, is a large amount of discussions on the HO EZ switches, (I think there is at least 4 different titled ones in progress right now)particularly the #5, #6, and crossovers. I agree with the previous writer, and many others who have said, that the movable rails are way too loose at the rivets. When the engine hits the loose rail, it moves sort of sideways, pulling the point away from the rail, and you get derails.

So here is the big question - It seems to me, that in all of these threads, past and present that I have seen, I have yet to ever see any comments from Bachamnn why this has been so, and why hasnt it been taken up by a quality control issue team, especially when these switches are getting expensive? Or have I missed seeing such a comment? Maybe they have addressed it, but the old switches are still flooded in the market?

I like EZ track a lot, but its very difficult to have this issue with a very critical piece of track equipment. I mean most of us would like to have sidings and passing tracks. Just sayin'

[jward]

very good points. the cost and quality control issues, and not just with bachmann but with many other brands as well, are why i now build my own. if i mess up and build a bad one i am only out about $3 for materials. and that is a worst case scenario. most of the time i can take the switch apart and fix the problem area reusing the original components.

loose point rails and pivots have affected every brand of switch i've ever used, including peco and atlas.

[BradKT]

At the end of the day, I became so frustrated with my EZ-track turnouts that I just got rid of them and substituted Atlas Code 100 turnouts.

It is also very important to make sure that your track is perfectly level.  Otherwise, the longer cars will have trouble at turnouts.

Problem solved!  I can enjoy my layout now and I couldn't before.

[Tedshere]

    Every bit of information I've gotten from this bulletin board has been helpful. Each and every step I take decreases the number of turnout derailments I suffer. The weight on some of my rolling stock was way off, and some of the couplers and pins were low. Those corrections helped a little more.     
    I checked all the cars with the standards gauge and there were no problems with the wheels.
    The only derailments I have now are while backing through a turnout. Mostly it's the car trying to get through a turnout with a longer car coming next. Even at very slow speeds. Other times it's the longer car that derails.
    I'm not glued down yet and wonder if there might be some slight movement in the track that adds to the problem.
    As always I appreciate any suggestions!
    Thanks,
    Ted