One way direction on RH Turnout

[Joe323]

One of my turnouts is balky no matter which way the frog is set the train continues on the main line even when I need it to diverge and enter the yard.  It seems as though the train is jumping or ignoring the switch point when it is in the diveregent position.  I tried straightening the points did not help.  Looking at the turnout it seems like the stock rail is higher the point.  and I am thinking the wheels are jumping the frog.

I was thinking of grinding down the stock rail to see if that solves the problem.  Anyone ever had this problem and if so how did you correct it? Replacing the turnout is a last resort.

[mabloodhound]

Do not grind down your 'stock' rail!!!
Your loco is picking the switch because of some fault in the turnout.   The movable rail may be too low to catch the flanges of the loco or it may not be throwing tight against the main rail.
You need to look at this closely while in operation.   Use just one plain truck off of a car and run it over the points and watch what happens.   You may need to apply some light pressure to keep the movable rail tight against the main.

[Joe323]

Do not grind down your 'stock' rail!!!
Your loco is picking the switch because of some fault in the turnout.   The movable rail may be too low to catch the flanges of the loco or it may not be throwing tight against the main rail.
You need to look at this closely while in operation.   Use just one plain truck off of a car and run it over the points and watch what happens.   You may need to apply some light pressure to keep the movable rail tight against the main.

I'll try your idea tonight and let you know what find.

Thank you

Joe

[Santa Fe buff]

Yep does sound like it's not catching. Let us know what comes of your experiment. Observing goes a far distance when it comes to troubleshooting!

Usually, you would grind the points down a bit to help keep them smooth, but that isn't likely the case so do not do so. lol

If your product does appear faulty, I'm sure you can always exchange for a new one providing you are within warranty.

Cheers,
Joshua

[ArnS]

See "turnout derailments" July 25 on this board. It may help.
Arn

[Joe323]

I tested it.

The wheels are seperating the movable rail from the stock rail IE picking the point.  From what I have read here it seems like the thing to do id so grind the side of the stock rail slightly to form a pocket do that the movable rail does not stick out.

Any further suggestions?

[jward]

hiding the point is what i try to do. filing out a notch in the stock rail is eassy if you are building your own switches by hand, much more difficult when the switch is already built. in this case, try sharpening the point so the wheels don't catch the blunt end. block the point open and carefully file the inside edge of the point where the wheel flanges run. this should help. if it doesn't, try to carefully put a slight kink in the rail just ahead of where the point and stock rail meet. twist the rail with a pair od needle nose pliers just enough that the point hides behind the kink, but not enough to make your track out of guage. the bend should be at the entry of the switch, on the two rail section just before the point.

usually some combination of the two will solve the problem of picked points.

note: make sure you block the point open when you file it. not having the point supported when you file it can loosen the pivots on the point so that it doesn't line up with the closure rail, and you now have another derailment point to fix. small pieces of index card inserted between the stock rail and point until they fit snugly should do the trick.

[Joe323]

Jeff

Do you mean file the point so it looks like this \

[jward]

you can add that bevel to it. what you really want to do is file along the inside edge of the rail so that the end of the point has a knife edge point to it. the less blunt the end of the point is, the less likely it is to cause trouble.

[Joe323]

Well I did all that and it helped that one turnout but now the others around it are acting up.  I can't win

[Jerrys HO]

Joe,
Are you using standard turnouts or numbered ones. I started replacing all my standard turnouts with numbered ones and found it is a lot better. I still have a few standard ones that are not acting up but what I found is do not put a left radius on a right standard turnout and vice versa. This causes a bind between most locos and rolling stock. As someone told me on this forum you don't see standard radius turnouts on real rails. Hope this helps it certainly helped me.
Jerry

[Joe323]

Joe,
Are you using standard turnouts or numbered ones. I started replacing all my standard turnouts with numbered ones and found it is a lot better. I still have a few standard ones that are not acting up but what I found is do not put a left radius on a right standard turnout and vice versa. This causes a bind between most locos and rolling stock. As someone told me on this forum you don't see standard radius turnouts on real rails. Hope this helps it certainly helped me.
Jerry

Yes they are standard turnouts however If I do rip them out I will replace them with numbered turnouts, as it does seem like curves are hard on the trains.  This will require some reconfiuring of the layout so I guess its time to pull out anyrail and figure out the changes.  Meanwhile I have them working well enough for now.

[train guy]

try moving the rail down.sometimes the rails on my turnout pop up . Just press down on the rail.Hope I helped you.

Best of luck,
train guy