Never thought I'd arrive at the same conclusion many of you have. An admission that some of you if not all of you are....right...Right! I made up a work train today with older sets of MT couplers. Although, it wasn't my intention to be looking for the "Slinky Factor", I first noticed something odd as I watched my work train, slowly crawl down the hill. The various cars with the older MT couplers were bouncing off of each other while those who had considerably more drag kept pulling cars backwards or towards them as the train proceeded. Odd I thought. I've never seen this behavior before. The whole thing started when the lead Zebra stalled for a nano second and the train begin to gather and then bounce back. "Now that's more than slack" I heard myself say out loud. Generally, slack will cause one end of the train to move towards the opposite end of the train and/or in the same direction until it reaches a terminating point. And if it bumps up against the locomotives it will start to work it's way back through the train. Providing the engineer doesn't attempt to pull it out or stretch it. The odd thing about it is individual cars were bouncing off of each other and back toward the leading or trailing car. Funny, I don't remember my slinky (from childhood days ) behaving this way. But, close enough to call it. So, if you don't mind I'm going to wipe the egg off my face and fix me a scrambled egg sandwich, devour a crow drum stick and top it all off with humble pie alamode. My newer MT couplers have some play in them which in my opinion fits the definition of "Slack", but these older ones certainly give new meaning to the definition of "Slink". Now I have a better understanding. Ok, if you guys and gals want an apology. To bad. No way. Aw come on...what do you think this is? Grrrrr! So, is this what you all were talking about? Have fun!
Get some of the axle springs like Boxcab50 said, it will eliminate the slinky effect by adding drag to each car, but not enough to hurt operation. The S
I think the formula is about 10% of your freight car fleet get restraining springs. BTW, when I saw the title of this thread, I wondered how you had managed to lay track inside an RV sewer hose (slinky). Or why you would want to.
Terry, You never know when I might want to connect the layout to the mobile home. Your idea of a RV sewer house won't get it done but a 4 inch sewer pipe might. Wheel drag. Restraints...kinky! LOL I plan on replacing all the wheel sets with Micro-Trains, low profile as my budget on a set income will allow. Thanks for the advice and comments. Feel free to keep them coming. We all live and learn according to how much we are willing to admit we don't know and are able and willing to discover new things. Did I say that? Must be paraphrasing an earlier author. For now author unknown. I do see this as over exaggerated slack. May I suggest the proper terminology needed here. It can be controlled if I use momentum to start and stop the trains. I can either add a little extra speed to stretch the train or slow it to accomplish that same thing.
Hey Rick... If you're eyes are like mine...stand back 3 feet (2 foot rule+1)...you will never see the 'slinky effect'...LMAO ! .
LOL It's the drier that has the slinky thing. I can't get it to sit still when the load in the washer is unbalanced. Talk about traveling. My RV sewer hose has been replaced with PVC pipe. Nasty splash in the toilet when that slink would fight back. Talk about ballasting the bottom of my a.... Some how I just know.. I'm going to hear about this one. cool: Oh George, I don't have to stand back two feet. The vision blurs at about a foot and a half. Now where did that darn train go anyway? Yep, got an appointment with the eye doctor.
Rick, It might be a better option to go with Fox Valley Models wheelsets. When bought in bulk they do get kinda pricey but the added weight, appearance and axle point performance blow away the plastic jobs too. Not to mention that metal wheelsets run cleaner as well. Again everything is subject to the dollar just want you to get the most bang for your buck. If you buy the bulk packs it's like 50 samoleans for 100 wheelsets or 25 cars. The price breakdown is $2 per car which is pretty cheap on a car by car basis. Just a thought, T
Probably the No. 1 thing I have learned in modeling N gauge railroading is that compromise is the name of the game. There are not too many things that have an upside without a downside. Whatever you choose is a matter of establishing your priorities. To me consistency is the key to the game. I therefore settled on MTL trucks, couplers and LoPro wheelsets a long time ago and have stuck with them. Yeah, there is the slinky downside but when you run long trains as in Ntrak you want them to stay coupled and MTL couplers do that better than Accumates. Other wheelsets may look nicer but cost a whole lot more plus that whirring sound they make is hardly prototypical. Just my take on it and as I said your priorities may differ from mine.
Metal Wheels Sizemore and all tuned in, I will certainly look into purchasing metal wheels. Seeing that my outdoor model railroad is subject to dust and other environmental build up issues. I built my railroad world in a metal shed, which is no better then having an outdoor railroad. I will consider the metal wheels as a way and means to help keep the track clean. I've had good luck with Micro-Trains wheelsets and the newer plastic wheels don't collect as much environmental build up as the older plastic. I also like the idea I don't have to worry about my train overhanging into another block. Those metal wheels can play havoc and short out the works if they sit right on a insulating gap.
Hahahahahahahahaha haw heeheehee. Eric and of course all tuned in. Traction Tires and my absolute disgust for them go beyond the limits of normal love and hate relationships. Not to worry Eric. I promise you I will not change my point of view. I hate... HATE, did I say HATE?...those things. I do like and will promote Bull Frog Snot, Bull Frog Sun Screen, Bull Frog Beer, and Bull Frog Beer advertisements "Bud". That's one commercial I won't forget. Grin! You may have a need to know...I don't drink alcoholic beverages, allergy of some sort. You can have unsober like fun when sober...right? It's a state of mind. I do like the Bull Frog Snot as a superb improvement over those frustrating traction tires. Nope, I won't slink away from my position on those TT's. A poor man's excuse for a hard pulling locomotive.
