# Suggestions for newbie?



## rfernald (Nov 3, 2014)

Hello New Friends: I have a Christmas village... about 40 Sq ft in all with about 20 houses and a Bachmann HO train. The problem is that it is constantly going off track. I know they are a bit particular with that connecting pin but this seems excessive. I'd like to re-do the entire train and have something 'nicer' and more reliable (bigger?) I honestly want to get some opinions on what size to go to and any particular brand that would be best for me. Set-up is in the basement and I do have some oxidation on the rails of my present track despite cleaning them. Any Maine Central cars or Bangor and Aroostook available? My grand-dad was yard master in Bangor Maine years ago.


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## Bwells (Mar 30, 2014)

What scale are you using? Sorry, just saw HO. Dirt won't derail so how tight are your turns? Diesel or steam and are you using angel hair for the snow effect, maybe some is lapping the track. Is it set up on carpet or a plywood table? Do you have any turnouts?


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## santafealltheway (Nov 27, 2012)

Typically bachman stuff works ok.. maybe you just need to heck for out of gauge wheels, too-low coupler pins, and i f you are using EZ track, check to make sure you havent missed any rail joiners.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

Generally speaking HO train derailments are
caused by misalignment of the track. This
often is where one section joins another.
Do a careful inspection of all joints noting
any vertical or lateral difference.

If you notice that there is one particular 
place where cars derail use this test to find the
culprit.

Get very close to the spot with a bright light.
Run the train as slow as it will go. When you
see a wheel START TO LIFT, STOP. There is
something right there causing the derail.

If only one specific car is derailing there could
be a problem with it's wheels, possibly out
of gauge or with a bent axle.

Don


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## mesenteria (Oct 29, 2015)

Derailments have multiple possible causes, often two or more present at the same time. Don't beat yourself up. It's bad in every scale, with the possible exception of O Gauge. But there you have to use those three-rail tracks, often with very tight curves and lurching rolling stock.

The first key is a level, flat, platform that can't sag anywhere. This doesn't have to be billiard table flat or level. But sags or humps with changes in elevation across a foot more than 1/8" will cause problems if the joint is at the apex or at the nadir. For the pieces of set track, which is probably what you are using, they can't bend. So, the curve is fixed, their lengths are fixed, and the kinks at the joints are fixed.

And that's if you haven't missed getting the rail foot into the joiner sleeve altogether. That vertical misalignment can cause problems, much more-so on curves.

Let's assume you have tested the footprint of your rolling stock, particularly the locomotive. You have done this on a clean flat countertop looking to see if there is light under one of the locomotive's flanges...the pizza cutter at the inner rims of the wheels. If the loco sits with all flanges apparently touching, it isn't the loco's stance that is the problem. I must be the tracks or the tight curvature causing things behind the locomotive to pop out due to pressure on the couplers. The couplers only have so much travel in their slots, left or right in azimuth. If your couplers come up hard against the ends of their travel, they'll leverage that close end of either or both cars right off the tracks.

If you have a 3-4' carpenter's level with a nice flat straightedge, lay that edge atop your rails along their axis. Get down with some backlight on the other side of the level and tracks. Your eyes will show, seeing light, where the dips and humps are. If you see them, and they look substantial, imagine what your 1/87 rolling stock and wheels have to contend with.

Another problem is roll. Poorly supported rail elements can roll up or down on one side raising the rail or dipping it. Around curves, this is a disaster to longer framed rolling stock because the stable rear frame and truck want to sit one way, comfortably, while the front end is unsupported at the outer rail as it enters the curve. That outer wheel's flange will want to drift outward on the curve, taking the unblocked flange on the other side with it. Derailment.

So, we have pointed the finger at couplers, poorly supported, poorly aligned tracks, and rolling stock whose axles aren't properly mounted in their truck journals, or the trucks are twisted, or the locomotive wheels are not sitting flush with each other on a flat surface (level rails).


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## rfernald (Nov 3, 2014)

*Thanks....*

Lots of good information from a friendly group, Thanks! 

I don't think my corners are too tight but I have attached a picture for your expert opinions.

Also are pictures of the engine and transformer... both of which came with the set and I'm wondering I'd be better off upgrading either/both of these or just bite the bullet and go ahead and get a "O' system complete with new track. It wold just be a simple oval shape for a 4x8 sheet of plywood covered with white felt. Again, I truly appreciate your opinions. Thanks Rich


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## Eilif (Nov 6, 2017)

Judging from the picture of the loco, it looks like the track sections aren't completely flush and connected properly. That could be part of your problem.


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## mesenteria (Oct 29, 2015)

I, too, have a Christmas train setup. I have it on consignment because we moved recently, no kids coming by any more, and we don't have the room. Or the energy. 

When I set up mine, it was on a well-supported sheet of plywood. But, like I see in your case, I used flocking or batts of poly-acrylic fiber to simulate snow. Even the thin ones that I used left the sectional track elements, with all those joints, undulating like the back country roads in Oregon. 

I would not place the 'snow' material, whatever it is, under any of the rails. I realize it's a time saver and it looks better quickly, but the problem is one you're beginning to appreciate.

Your steam locomotive appears, from what I can see of it, to be a 0-6-0 or a 2-6-0. It should do fine on the curves you show. I bet it would do okay on 15" curve radii, but maybe not anything towed behind it. It depends on those couplers.

I should add that I really like HO right now, and I'm in my 60's. I don't have problems seeing the finer details, and don't have problems handling the items. HO is a nice scale because you can have broader curves in a defined space. If you keep the same surface area as you have, and you go up to O gauge, you will lose the broader curves, have shorter tangent tracks, and you'll have to purchase everything that you already have. If your chief complaint is reliability, and the train runs okay from the standpoint of mechanical soundness, then your only problem lies in track arrangement, not really with scale. So, if it were me, I'd try to fix the track problems. I would work to ensure smooth joints, flat track, no kinks (either at curves or at joints) and to ensure my rolling stock rolled freely and that the couplers don't snag. In fact, we haven't talked about whether or not the trucks swing well, or if the wheels are gauged and placed correctly. You'd need an NMRA track gauge (any on line hobby store, such as modeltrainstuff or toytrainheaven, or trainworld, or Walthers) to check accurately.


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## Mr.Buchholz (Dec 30, 2011)

Looks like you're running EZ Track. That type of track is great, but the connections have to be as tightly together as possible. Gaps in the track connections cause derailments and voltage issues. Tighten up those gaps, and keep the rails clean.

-J.


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