i think i may have solved my derailment problem? it may have been a q. c. problem with the crossover,the one rail on the point was rolling in towards the center of the track when the loco. was going into it,this rail is very loose compared to all the others,i wasn't sure if i could put a spot of glue on it to stiffen it up,so i turned it around and i have not had a derailment for over a week also no problems in reverse. maybe a bandaid? i also loosened up all the trucks on the cars that came with the set to match other cars i purchased separately train runs smoother now not as jerky it seems. i thought it may have been the loco but it was going on with the three that i have.  thanks much for all the help

thanks jerry i will try the truck adjustment also i am going to pick-up one of them gauges.  jeff i have straight track going into my c/o no s turns and the short length of my train is clear of the 22r turn before going into the c/o,but the t/o is after a 18r curve but that is less of a problem, that switch does not seem to move on its own as much as the c/o. i read some other post and will  try some of the other suggestions.  thanks 

my layout has been expanded 4x8 it includes 2 crossovers l&r 2 turnouts l&r all dcc ,all programming went really well including reversing one loco.my derailment problems are when the loco and cars are going into the c/o and t/o at half speed or a little less it runs through good sometimes then goes off. i changed the order of the cars i only have two and a caboose so its always car two and three i also played with direction and speed. i did notice the points moving but its hard to catch it and see the actual derail is it normal for this movement? also i can see that the manual slide has moved a bit, also its like there is no pressure applied to keep the points in position towards travel direction is there a way to tighten this up.also when i power up some switches activate others don't seem to? so i am checking to make sure of direction any tips or trouble shooting ideas would be welcome thanks ahead of time!

i got my train set wed. night,set it up fri. morning every thing went smooth,i even reprogrammed one of the locos.i bought some extra straight track,i knew it would be to small,but its still a circle and a parking spot.i'm ready for more but the turnouts confuse me some. looking at the online catalog (bachman)they all say manual or dcc oper.the one i got w/set is manual easy,is there a conversion for this one? also big price difference,some are 4 for67.00 others i think are 1 for 68.00 and another for 82.00. also questions about decoders,do they all have them in even though they say manual? and do these turnouts work w/the function buttons or do you need a separate switch also do the crossovers work like turnouts electrically.

balrog21   I'm waiting for my dig commander set it should be here any day now. i checked out y.t. very cool also many others. i have also been reading all the questions and post on this site i am learning a lot and still have much to learn.i was wondering if you or anyone else could give me some advice on spending my money wisely! i know i didn't even get the set yet,but i am looking(planing) ahead. i was thinking about inclines, maybe two levels? if that is possible,any insight would be greatly appreciated.  thanks for all the help raz

i would like to thank everyone for all their help and suggestions, i believe i am going to go with the digital commander set. this is something new and there is a lot to learn,i cant wait to get it i just may have to increase my budget(layout).

i was wondering if anyone could recommend a starter set in ho scale for a beginner? i may be interested in one that i could add more track to and maybe pull more cars.by looking at specs.how do you know how many cars can be pulled within reason? or is the amount of cars in set all that can be pulled?  my area for a  train set is 4x8 ft.   any help or suggestions are greatly appreciated thank-you.