tuenout de-railments

[ralph67]

My  4-8-4 "Hudson" derails virtually ever time when going thru my ez track turn out when trying to divert onto the inside track. The train tries to keep going straight. There is no problem when the turnout is in the straight ahead mode. The train is coming off an incline shortly before  the turn out. Any help will be appreciated.

[Len]

With the switch set for the diverging leg, run the loco through it very slowly. Does the pilot truck ride up and over the point rail, or does it push it aside and continue down the straight leg?

Len

[ralph67]

The pilot truck runs up over the point rail

[rogertra]

Fixes to points, the moving part of a "turnout", to use the engineer term but a "switch" to real railroaders, are fairly easy.

First examine the points to see if, when in the diverging position, the point that directs the wheels into the diverging route fits snuggle against the stock rail (straight rail).  There should be little to no gap between the point and the stock rail.

If there is a slight gap, using a pair of needle nose pliers VERY carefully tweak the end of the point towards the stock rail just a little bit, only enough to close the gap.

Now run your locomotive through the diverging route and see if it derails.

If it doesn't, have fun, you've fixed it.

If it does derail, you'll need a set of jeweller's files.  What you will need to do is to take one of the files and CAREFULLY file the inside tip of the point rail so as to make a slight angle on the tip to guide the wheel into the curve.

Hopefully, that will fix the problem for you.

Cheers

Roger T.

[Len]

If the pilot truck is riding over the point rail, you may need to add a bit of weight to the pilot truck. You might also want to check the wheel gauge and make sure it's okay.

Len

[ralph67]

I suspect you may be right. However, I am a real green horn at this, how do I do that? Thanks

[Jerrys HO]

If you don't mind me asking, which turnout do you have standard or numbered? If it's the standard I would assume it's going to pick at the points no matter what you do.

[jward]

that was going to be my question. the standard switch has an 18 radius curved route, and the 4-8-4 is recommended for 22" r or larger. if the op is trying to run a 4-8-4 through the curved side of a standard switch, he's asking for trouble as they're not designed to do this.

[jbrock27]

Not a good idea to place a turnout near an incline.  As a result, is there some incline to the turnout section itself?  If so, can it be moved? 

[ebtnut]

The other thing you should do is check the gauge of the wheel set in the pilot truck with an NMRA gauge.  If the wheels are a bit too wide, they will cause trouble in other places too. 

[Joe323]

You could carefully remove the pilot wheels and then try running the Loco.  That will help determine if the problem is the turnout or the switch.  All the Bachmann locos I have are balanced enough to run without the pilot.  If it runs without the pilot.  I would start by checking the gauge of the pilot wheels.  Or perhaps the pilot needs more weight ?

[jbrock27]

While on the topic, an NMRA gauge, used to check the wheels, can also be used to check various aspects of the turnout.