I’m thinking about those shims and I wonder what I can use to make them out of since I don’t have any and I don’t see any to buy. Punching the correct size hole in whatever I use while maintaining a smooth surface is going to be a problem. I’ll have to go to the hardware store to see if I can find a small thin neoprene washer or something. 2nd thought I’m also thinking that since every car has the marks of the wheels hitting the body that the problem is because the guy that originally replaced the trucks with MTs forgot to put in the required shims
Ok, I don’t know why I didn’t do this before, but I pulled out all the bolster pins and examined each truck. Out of 32 axels 7 did not match the rest. I removed the bad wheels and I won’t have anything to replace them with until my order comes in. I was also looking at the huge hole in the truck for the tinny bolster pin. I not only need a spacer to rise up the body, but I also need a reducer for the pin because the truck flops around on the bolster pin. Now that I think about it, the cars did have a quite lot of slinky movement. I have some1134 (001 33 031) trucks that I bought for my Bachmann cars and MicroTrain calls for 1128 (001 30 012) for the MP Hopper. I don't know what is on them now and without the reducer, I might have to buy new trucks for the missing parts. I don’t know what I’m going to do now. This is one of those downsides of buying from eBay. A couple of ExactRail 3-pack hoppers sound pretty good right about now.smile: Well, I’m off to the hardware store to see if I can find something to use. Maybe I can find something in the plumbing/faucet department. It seems to me that I saw something there that might work.
I'm sorry I missed this thread until now. I had horrendous derailment problems until I realized that wheels and trucks are not interchangeable. There were different specifications for overall axle length, wheel and flange sizes, bolster pin diameters and heights, and clearances. I made a mess of my early fleet by swapping things around--parts were hard to come by in the 1970s and 1980s, and I never saw an article in the model railroad magazines. So if I lost a bolster pin or axle on a favorite car, I replaced it with the same from a cheaper or less favorite car. Big mistake. When I finally realized what was happening, my fleet was so boluxed that I had to switch everything to MT. That was expensive. Then I learned MT's wouldn't run on Atlas C55. Another expensive oversight. So I switched everything to Accumates, as MT wasn't selling bulk packages of low profile wheels at the time. The early Accumates blew up--a third expensive mistake. Now I'm switching to Fox Valley wheels. I truly love them--but 36" wheels don't fit in my early passenger cars. I believe 36" wheels are correct for passenger cars, but haven't found a way to get them into the old Con-Cor or Rivarossi trucks. This hobby always has been a challenge.
Sorry I didn't come to this thread until now, but this is exactly what I was thinking while I was reading through your posts. Now that you say you have actually seen it for yourself I suspect it even more. Even when cars come new, they often wobble a little too much on their trucks. Change trucks and you increase the the odds of wobble. And if the previous owner drilled the holes to make them larger, that will do it, too (though I hope that isn't the case). Loose trucks, what I think I hear you saying you have, lead to derailments, especially through turnouts. Every packet of MT couplers comes with some parts in it that will reduce the size of holes. If you end up with a pin that is too big for the hole, you can very patiently file down the pin to the right diameter for a snug fit. I've had this problem on several cars, but if you keep fiddling, you'll find just the right solution. If you can find no other option, you might even consider a tiny brass screw with a nut. As for the MT question, I have never had any problems with MT wheels of any kind, including "pizza cutter." My MT wheels run great. I'll never see the flanges unless I try to take exhibition photos of one of my cars--and then I'm much more likely to notice the overly thick roof-walk, steps, or grab irons, or the blocky looking doors.
I’ve only been doing N-scale for 2 or maybe three years and it has certainly been a challenge. I learn something new every day. I can’t imagine trying to do this in the 70s and 80s without TrainBoard. I don’t know if I would ever have figured out what the problem was without the help of experienced people. I was sure my problems were track related. At least I now know to check the wheels. People have been telling me to gauge the wheels for a couple of years and I could not understand how that could change. I was thinking about all the problems I had with my old layout and I’m now wondering how much of that was wheel & truck related. I also started buying MT cars and wheels awhile back because I thought they were the best. After I spent a lot of money on code 55 track for a new layout, I found out I would have to change everything. That’s another reason why I haven’t completed the code 55 layout. The good thing about this little exercise besides learning about wheels was that I really got to test out my new Unitrack layout. I also pulled out locos and cars that have never even been on a track before. I have to say that was a lot of fun having so many trains running at the same time. I had so much going on that every siding was filled. I also realized that DCC would have really worked well since some trains run a little faster than others and I’m really looking forward to getting that going. I’m absolutely sure that the trucks are the problem. Gary (maxairedale) is helping me out with the spacers. Thank you Gary.:thumbs_up: I know now that I'm going to start saving all those extra parts that come in kits from now on especially if I continue to buy stuff from ebay.
The N scale club I belong to keeps track of each member's cars on the layout by assigning a pair of colors to paint the truck pins. Red and Green happen to be my colors!
Then you'll probably always have this problem. Its not the track or the wheels. The problem is the lack of a straight section before the switch. Make the change and watch the trains run. Unitrack is 100% bulletproof if it is done right , and that section of track is wrong, you need the straight section.
I have two trains running through right now that have been running for about an hour non-stop. I have both of them changing mains and alternating straight through. They are both running great and not as much as a hiccup. One big difference is that I have Kato’s V11 Superelevated double track for the curves which comes with a short transition piece. I can run trains at full throttle around these curves.
An observation. I see a piano hinge running along the back of the layout. Do you fold the layout up so it hangs vertically? The track hangs/clings to the "wall" when stored? Is there movement- that is- is the kato track glued down or nailed down so tight it can't be budged when pushed with a finger or is it loose enough to do so? (I feel like Hercule Poirot in "Murder On The Orient Express".) Many cars run thru your Xover but many do not. As someone suggested, have you isolated the ones that do not run thru? Have you manually pushed a string of cars thru the X to see what's happening? As Hercule Poirot I sense something is missing here. A mask is placed before us all and we must guess what hides behind it. Is it the wheels? Is it the track? Is it the trackwork? Is it the flanges? Is it the cars? Their weight? Manufacture? Is it the...? Too many have none such. I suggest the mystery is more easily solved by having SleeperN06 invite us all over for uncut pizza and beer for a weekend (bring your own sleeping bag and pizza cutter). Thank you and good night. Hercule Poirot
Johnny, I noticed this on one of your posts, and I thought I would just tell you you're not alone on this one. I have all my track glued down with the joiners properly installed and while ballasting the track I have noticed some nice little "bumps" in the rail joints. I am filing the high side of the joints down as I notice them, then taking a bright boy and a sanding stick to the joint afterward to smooth it out. I don't know if they are manufacturing defects or the way I laid the track, but I am a stickler for perfect trackwork and so they have to go away. Even with something as good as Unitrack, this stuff still happens. Todd
For those diehard skeptics, here is a little video of the operation of the double crossover on my layout after it comes out of a curve. I did have about 10 or 11 Bachmann cars but the only loco that I got with Bachmann couplers is a Spectrum 2-8-0 and it was too slow. Plus the Bachmann couplers kept coming loose, but still no derailments. I said earlier that it had been running for an hour, but I didn’t realize what time it was. It actually had been running for 3 hours without incident also I’ve been cranking up the speeds. I couldn’t vary the speed as I was recording because you have to keep an eye on it to avoid a collision, so I set them at the same speed. Now I’m not good at this filming stuff so bare with me. I did this as fast as I could, but it took 3 hours to upload a 1 ½ minute video. I thought about redoing it when I can get my wife to operate the trains at a faster speed while I record, but after this amount of time to upload, I’m not so sure I will. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKiP2krj11w Now does this look like I’m going to forever have a problem?
I have no idea what you are trying to say, but if you’re serious about the layout you can read all about it here. http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/showthread.php?t=118215 and here http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/showthread.php?t=118339
I did not see any of the cars derailing because of a "S" curve. Looks good Johnny. The spacers will be in the outgoing mail tomorrow, with any luck you should have them by the weekend. Gary
Great video Johnny. Maybe even one you'd like to submit to the March Modeling Video Challenge? It's clear that the issue is with the trucks/wheels on the problem cars. It looks like you have several other cars on the sidings. I bet you'll see the problem disappear if you take two problem cars and switch the wheels with the wheels from a good car (assuming you have a good car with lo-pro wheels, or wheels smaller than those on the problem cars). Maybe you could even test swapping truck all together, see if the problem follows the trucks.
This layout started out as an experiment and I’ve been careful to preserve it in case I decided to abandon it. I then started thinking of just using it as a fill-in until I finished another layout and I refrained on sanding or filling. I wouldn’t even cut the turnout wires. I used hot glue very sparingly to just hold it in place and still be able to remove the track. That may change soon, now that I see how well it’s working out. If I decide to keep it, than I will file down all the rails that stick up and add scenery.
if i remember correctly you said these are model power cars. to be honest. forget about changing the wheels. get rid of those cars ! you better invest your $$ in better models. as you found out atlas cars track much better. also do intermountain. and most of them come with mt trucks/couplers. and their hoppers look way better than any model power hopper. at some time in my dark ages of n-scale i had model power cars as well. they're just not worth to fiddle around. just my thoughts however.
What I was saying... ...was that I noticed the hinge along the background. So I am asking whether the layout gets folded up to the wall (for storage) and perhaps the track was sagging while vertical/hanging, perhaps pulling the joints out of place and creating kinks not readily apparent. The flurry of responses in this thread as I read them made me woozy. As I watch the video I think to myself- the KATO track works perfectly. Which is great since what I want is the X-over for my passenger terminal lead. i had a pretty extensive layout- all KATO track. I also had their tightest curve as a yard lead and routinley backed 35 car trains thru the curve and right into a No. 6 switch. The only prblem I ever encountered was an empty MT coal hopper that was just too light to track properly and would occasionally climb the rail through switches. I finally took it out of service. I will weight it and try it again afterwards. I was teasing about the Hercule Poirot mark
