Hello folks, My daughter wanted her own little layout so I got the V-11 Super Elevated track set. We setup the track plan as per the instructions and started to run some trains. There was always an issue with the outer track and locomotives derailing on the easements. I tried all sorts of things like longer wheelbase locomotives like the Kato PA units and locomotives as small as an NW-2, all had the same issue. This is my first use of Kato dual track system and so far I am not impressed. As I said I have tried different locomotive sizes and even a 4-6-6-4 Challenger and an Atlas GP7, and they all have the same issue, but at different places along the curves. I double checked in the event I was using the wrong part in the wrong place but that is not the case. Any ideas? Thanks!
Check to make sure the unijoiner is engaged properly. Sometimes a rail will run up “on top” of the joiner, or the unijoiner is not level.
That's odd. I've used the superelevated double track sections and never experienced any issues. I've only used the largest radii, so that may be a factor.
David....the guy I swear could solve any problem with anything...getting tripped up by the simpliest track system on the market. Just dont unlock your gun safe and prove to the world that Unitrack ISNT bullet proof my friend. LOL Hang in there...someone will come up with the right solution to the problem.
Uhh...err. Kato Unitrack is not bullet proof. I was able to shoot a Bibi through it followed by a Pellet and you ought to see what a 22 Long does to it. Fire crackers work great and send it in pieces sprawling through the air. So don't go there by telling me it's bullet proof. So before I sound off. David, did you buy the transition pieces? You know the ones that go from flat running to an easement. Time for the tirade. There's no such thing as the "PERFECT" model railroad system. However, there are talented people who've gone out and made some things work with perfection. As Mountain Man said and I agree with (that's a first) and what puzzles me is David, is one of those. So now I'm scratching my head. I don't like Kato's curves and prefer to install Atlas flex track. I don't like dealing with M&M's and prefer inches and fractions. I don't know why I have to learn all this new bull-buckey. I'm not a European and resent it being pushed on me. But that's a story for another time and place. The one thing I have learned is some locomotives such as ConCor's PA's and GS4's, Life Like's SD's they all prefer to run flat as well as Kato's. Not a lot of margin for movement in the trucks. Pretty stiff and I do know what stiff is. Don't ask. So while some things appear to work well other things and combinations of things don't. Story or rather summation of my life. The other Rick!
Well after a good nights sleep, I did some more investigation. First of all, this was the V-11 set all by itself and it came with the easements but all the straight track was flat. I looked on Kato's site and did not see any transition parts and there were none at the shop where I bought the V-11 set. So it seems to be I have one piece of double track that has issues. I replaced that with two pieces of single track and that problem went away. Close inspection of the of the track joiners and the rail shows the the rail has an upward kink to it. I also found that running the trains in the opposite direction had no issues. It seems that a transition piece is in need, but checking the Kato site I see nothing about a transition piece. I have had to do a little filing because in a few cases the rail was a few thousands to long causing a slight kink up. That also fixed a few of the issues. So we do have trains running now on both tracks with no issues after all the tinkering. What I had encountered is a bit of a Quality Control issue because of the rail issues. Kato Unitrak is not perfect or bulletproof, what is, is a good system for a quick setup and run in my world, and it makes my daughter smile in not much time. I still like to make my own turnouts and lay track and fine tune it. But for a holiday weekend to have something she can have fun with, well you can not beat that!
That's odd. All of the 1/2 sized curves should be transitions. Part number is 20-182, has one right and one left. Look for the arrows on the bottom. The arrows point to the super-elevated track. The v11 should have 8 22.5 transition degree curves, and 8 of the 45 degree longer curves.
To see your daughters face light up and or granddaughter. Yep that's worth everything. Oh and the reference to stiff is just something this tired, excuse me retired mortician prefers not to talk about. Glad it all worked out... Mr. David.
No manufacturer is 100% perfect 100% of the time This wheelset is from a Kato passenger car that was brand new and never run. The car had a problem on the re-railer and was pulled off and this is what I found.
Oh my... what Kato set was that passenger car from? When I get new Kato consists they are just posed on track provided. So... if I don't run it I when new...I would't know if there is a defect until such time as I decide to 'take it out for a spin'. Sent from my SM-J737T using Tapatalk
David, one thing you did not mention is what base you set the track on. I have used Unitrak on carpet (under a Christmas tree) and found that lumps in the carpet caused vertical jogs and rolls in the track that were particularly troublesome at the beginning of curves and turnouts. Strategiaclly[laced shims cured all of those problems. I even just had that problem where a curve (19" radius) ended at the points to a #4 turnout (with radius equivalent to 19") with the track laying on an old, very solid diningroom table. A thin shim that was composed of 3 thicknesses of 20-lb paper solved that problem, which was a vertical angle at the end of the curve. What is happening is that the leading wheels go over the outsided rail as they enter or leave the curve because the rail is dropping vertically at that location and it makes it easy for the wheels to climb over the rail.
I wonder if the upward kink in the track was caused by someone at some point in the past disconnecting the track pieces in the wrong way. Unitrack sections should only be separated by "bending" them flat in the plane of track, never by flexing it vertically.
The track is set on top of a pair of large hollow core doors The track was brand new out of the box, and put together by me. I have used Unitrak for years as a way to prototype and I use it as the programming track and my speed calibration track. So I am not new to using it. And at this point everything has been tweaked and the layout is working flawlessly now
Hi David. I love Unitrack. Wish it was not code 80, but like it anyway. However, one thing I have noticed is that the ends of the rails are not 100% uniform. You can run your fingers over the joints and feel bumps at times. Every once in a while, the bumps can be sizeable (and yes, connected correctly). I think the machine that cuts the rail must turn it up on the end ever so slightly. At times, I have gently filed the top surface on the most egregious bumps. That's dangerous of course, because if the track is ever rearranged, those two pieces may not be mated together again, and now I could have a problem next time. At least that's my impression. Of course, all of this is made in various batches over the decades. Your stuff in newer than mine. Mine is older.
