You are very welcome.

That's what we are all here for, to learn and to help others as we can.
I am confident you will have resolve to this issue.

I have six EZ Track turnouts, 3 right and 3 left.
Only one, out of the "box", required the surgery posted above, it was assembled with the pinion "one tooth off".
The other five have received only a basic touch with a needle file on the points.

All six function reliably and flawlessly and have for many years.

Good Luck

Hi DoubleDAZ,

Please have another look at this thread:

http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,8792.0.html

In my reply, I posted some pics of the internal turnout.
Note the position of the rack gear to the pinion gear.
Also note the orientation of the boss on the pinion gear which drives the pinion lever (spring lever).
It is not exactly in the 12 and 6 positions, but rather almost 12:30 to 6:30, maybe closer to 1 and 7.

This is the correct orientation between the two (rack and pinion).

If you can get to this position, and you are still are having problems with equal pressure, with the points against the stock rails, then the remainder of tweaking lies in slight adjustment of the spring on the pinion lever.

If this is the case, remove the pinion lever (with the spring attached) and gently (with finger pressure) bend the spring toward the desired position.
You will need to bend the spring at the "top" where it leaves the lever, very slightly, very, very, slightly.
A minimum adjustment at the top of the lever is a lot of throw at the bottom (point throw).
It may take several adjustments to get it just right, just go slow and easy, and a little at a time.
Do not "kink" the spring. If you do, you will need to replace the spring with piano wire.

Not fun, don't ask how I know.

Good news is that you can't muck it up to bad; the piano wire seems to work very well.
That said, the spring wire still needs to be parallel to the pinion lever to be reliable in both positions.

The rack and pinion must be in proper "time" (orientation).

Good Luck

Been there, think I got a "T" shirt, or two, been there so many times.

Soldering is just part of the hobby.
Solder, Shrink Tube then Label... you got it..

Good Luck

Hi DoubleDAZ,

I have received and reviewed your PM.

Please understand, it is my intent to help anyone, member or lurker, who may have similar problems, to overcome them and have successful results, regardless of skill level.
Therefore, the public response.

Remove the problem turnout from the layout.
Disconnect the electrical wires
Turn it over and remove the screws releasing the bottom plate.
Observe the relationship between the rack and pinion gears when throwing the switch from side to side.
Inside you will see a spring (wire) from the pinion gear, attached to a lever, which extends to the (point) throw.

http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,8792.0.html

Manually throw the points, from side to side, and see that there is equal pressure in both positions, to secure the point rails against the stock rails. There should be some excess in both positions where the spring is held fast against the stock rails.
(Be careful here, as the parts will fall out if the turnout is indexed to the proper position without the bottom plate screwed on.)
If not, then adjust the pinion gear to make it so.
The "spring wire" is not strong enough to hold it (points) in position without being powered.
This is why you maybe seeing the points moving away from the stock rail as the loco and cars pass over it when not powered.

Energize the turnout.

Replace the bottom cover and screws and try it.
It may take a few attempts till you figure it out.
One tooth off (either way) means a lot, either in the through route or the diverging route.
Try my suggestions and post back.
Let me know how it works out.

Awaiting your reply,
James in fla

Hi LouIII,

Yes, you will need to manually trim the ballast off the adjoining tracks.

Good Luck

Hi DoubleDAZ,

Please check this link and read the links in that thread:

http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,14730.0.html

EZ Track can be made to be reliable; it does require some minor tweaking effort.

Good Luck,

Can you post a sketch of your track plan?
I'm going to go out on a limb here and presume you want a double track oval with a yard inside the inner loop.
Will the trains be running opposite directions on the loops?
To switch from the inner to the outer loop will require some type of crossover or two turnouts.
From the inner loop to the yard will require as least one more turnout.
I really don't want to be presumptuous here, what I am envisioning may, or may not, be what you want to accomplish with your pike.

Double track main line oval (3x6) with yard inside the inner oval, if it were me doing this, I would have three blocks, three power drops (outer, inner, and yard) regardless of DCC or DC.
Additional power drops are a plus, but you must determine what overkill is.

Again can you post a track plan?
Without it, I will not comment further.

Hi cpoplinger,

To go a bit further than "Hunt"s reply –

Scale is what something would equal to, representative of size.
In the USA, N scale is 1:160
In Japan, 1:150
In the UK 1:148

Gauge, or gage, (both correct) refers to the distance between railheads.
N gauge is 9 mm (global) regardless of scale.

The answer to question 1 is yes.
The answer to question 2 is absolutely, provided the track gauge is consistent
If your tenders are de-railing check the wheel gauge first.
Check that the wheel sets are free wheeling (no binding).
What loco and what tender are you having difficulty with?
If you can see where the problem is, tell us, so we cam help with a solution.
Question 3; If the turnout is functioning properly (proper gauge) and throw, and wheel sets are in proper gauge, B'mann turnouts as are as reliable as any of the other manufacturers turnouts. This takes a bit of work.

All manufactured turnouts require tweaking for optimum performance.
It's part of the hobby. It is what it is, and has always has been.

Stable? Not sure what you mean here...reliable...yes they can be... if you make them so.

If you're using Kato, your tweaking and adjusting will be minimal, out of the box. Tweeking will be the exception rather than the rule.
If required at all.

http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,14885.0.html

Hi robcope,

If you could provide more information on exactly what you plan to do, we could provide more accurate answers.

Are you planning DCC or DC?
Continuous running or switching, or both?
If you plan to use DC and want to run two trains simultaneously, you will need blocks. Otherwise one will eventually catch the other.
Each block will generally require its own power feed.

Do you plan to use power routing turnouts?
This makes a difference.

For a 3x6 layout (oval, no turnouts, and one loco) one power drop is sufficient provided you have good rail joiner contact throughout the loop. The speed of the loco opposite the power drop will be negligible.
If you find it necessary, you will need no buss, just run two feeder wires from the power pack to opposite sides of the layout.

IMO if you solder track, a power drop every 3 ft. is a waste of time and resources, could be money better spent elsewhere.
Every 10 -12 ft is sufficient.
Try it and judge for yourself.

If you don't solder track and are strictly relying on the joiners to provide power, every 3 feet is not a bad idea.

Beware of rules and experts; I have yet to encounter any, of either, in this hobby.

Atlas item code 2092 (code 55)
Atlas item code 2539 (code 80)
< $4 each

I understand Bachmann may delete this response to your question, however if Bachmann would offer this same product accessory, I would surely recommend their product on their forum.

Good Luck

Did you get your power routing worked out?
Are you still having problems traversing the turnouts?
Wheel gauge?
Proper wheel gauge is paramount in running reliability.
Have you checked your track gauge?
Proper track gauge goes "hand in hand" with proper wheel gauge.
This is the first step in troubleshooting.

Get your eyes down low and run the loco very slowly through the turnout, if it stalls then manually push it through until it runs on its own power.
You may see some lifting, of the wheel, off the rail head when the wheel flange hits the frog.
Is this happening?
If so, this is an easy fix.

If all these potential problems have been checked and adjusted and you're still having problems with the turnouts, I can post a "step by step" adjustment of the rack and pinion gears to be sure they are in the proper alignment.
Minor surgery, easy to do, ~ 10 - 15 min. fix.
Speculations and assumptions (on either your, or my, part) have no real place in troubleshooting.
We need to find the root cause of the problem. Once we know this (root cause), we can work out a solution.
Need answers to the questions before I can offer anything more.
Let us know where you are with this.

I've got to work second shift today so I don't have much time to help this morning. I will return to the forum after 11pm tonight and check back then.
In the mean time-
B'mann EZ track turnouts are what are called "power routing".
This means that power will only flow in the direction the points are thrown.
Look at this thread and move your terminal track to the proper position:

http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,11953.0.html

and here;
http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,8183.0.html

As far as "running against the points";
This is when the loco is traveling through the turnout (coming down through the top of the "Y", from either leg, and the points are thrown against (opposite) the direction of travel.

Turnout tweeking here;
http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,11346.0.html

Pics of the internal workings of the turnout;

http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,8792.0.html

For now, remove all your rolling stock and let's just work with the loco.
Get your power worked out and read all the above posted thread links. Let's us know where you are with this and then I'll post back later tonight.

Good Luck

Hi rjcarty,

I will surmise you are using the B'mann turnouts, simply because you are posting on the B'mann forum.

You don't state the problem is with the loco, or rather the rolling stock, you also don't state which way the "train" is traveling through the turnout.
This information would help us, help you.
Please include it in your next post.

Let's start with the easy stuff first.

Trouble shooting turnout de-railments 101;

#1 Wheel gauge:

Check that every wheel set on both your loco and every piece of your rolling stock is in proper gauge and clean.
To do this, you will need either a NMRA gauge or a decent set of calipers.
Check and adjust as necessary.
If you don't have either one of these, get one, and then proceed from here.

#2
Do you have the electrical power to the turnouts working?
By this, I mean is the power hook-up working correctly?
Observe the turnout (points) pushed tightly against the stock rails in both positions when you activate the control box position.
If you're not powering the turnouts and relying on just the manual position (slider) of the point rail against the stock rails, you're looking for problems. The "spring" is not strong enough to reliably hold position. Again a bit more information here would be helpful.
Look at this thread;
http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,8236.0.html

Do not run against the points, there is no cure for this, other than not to do it.

Report back and we will go from there.
Good Luck

Thanks Joe,

Overkill most definitely.

IMO rounding to 2 digits, behind the decimal,

should be OK.

Thanks again,
James in FL

Figure 8 configurations using the new 17.5r 15° curves.

90° crossing;
360° - 90° = 270° per side.
270 / 15 = 18pcs. per side.
Strleg  = 17.5 - .5625 = 16.9375. (4x).

60° crossing;
360° - 60° = 300° per side.
300 / 15 = 20pcs, per side.
Strleg =  17.5 x .57735 = 10.103625 - .78125 =  9.322375. (4x).

45° crossing;
360° - 45° = 315° per side.
315 / 15 =  21 pcs. per side.
Strleg = 17.5 x .41421 =  7.248675 - .8750 = 6.373675. (4x).

30° crossing;
360° - 30° = 330° per side.
330 /15 =  22 pcs. per side.
Strleg = 17.5 x .26794 = 4.68895 – 1.291 =3.39795. (4x).

Someone please confirm/refute my trigonometry calculations.
Joe ?