Help with 30 degree crossing HO....

[NANA TRAIN]

I have bought the thomas set and all of the trains de rail at or after the crossing.... I bought a larger transformer thinking that there was a decrease in power at the crossing....as any engine I run slows at that point....any thoughts or suggestions...

[Anubis]

I would be looking at frog and guide-rail clearances on the crossing.

If you own an NMRA standards gauge, this has flange-way and rail gauge settings built into it, and will quickly detect where the 'jam' is.

Failing that, you can also run a coffee stirrer stick, or even your thumbnail, through the crossing, and you should be able to pick up where the problem is.

From your description, the fault is causing mechanical, as well as electrical problems, so it shouldn't be too difficult to spot.

Hope this helps.   

[ChrisS]

The flangeway may not be deep enough causing the flange to ride up and cause the loco to derail.

[ksumwalt]

Check the couplers. I had this problem with a different set and found the piece that drops down on the coupler was hitting the crossing track. Snipping it short solved the problem for me.

[John Tumolo]

Here is some advice I was given when I got back in this hobby 10 years ago.  Stop at your local hobby shop and purchase the following-1 Kadee HO Scale coupler height and multipurpose gauge  (item # 205) and Trip pin pliers (item # 237).  These two inexpensive tools will save you a lot of trouble each and every time you make a new purchase of locomotives or rolling stock.  The very first thing you do when you get your new purchase home is place it on a flat level piece of straight track with the gauge and check both coupler height and trip pin position.  Almost every car I have purchased has had the coupler in the proper position, but the pin was hanging too low.  If it's off, you will go nuts trying to figure out why it derails or uncouples at switches and crossings.  The trip pin pliers are perfect for correcting the problem, and work much better than a pair of needle nose pliers.   It was the best investment I made as a newbie in the hobby.  John Tumolo  [email protected]