A couple questions, related to the Yard Boss set I bought for my son a couple months ago:
1. What kind of couplers does this have? I've done some googling, but to my surprise, I still can't figure it out.
2. I purchase the Bachmann 16-pier set and some extra track to add to the 24" circle to make an under/over figure 8. However, with more than one car attached to the engine, the engine slips on th incline. Even spreading the piers out so they are a couple track legths from each other (so that there are only 2 or 3 track segments with no pier, it still slips. Even adding a 4 straights and not using the tallest pier, it still slips a litle with 3 cars attached. Am I expecting too much (the box made it seem as if it was meant for basic figure 8s)?
Thanks!!
Did your loco come with traction tires? If so, are they still there (They will appear as black bands over a wheel on each side)? Also, your track could be dirty, your loco's wheels could be dirty, your loco could be over lubed. Don't expect a $25 engine to run like a $75 engine. The loco in your set probably does not have the best pulling power. I believe it comes with a 0-6-0 with USRA tender from Bchmann's standard line. Try a spectrum loco and see if you have better success.
Also, if your set is newer they come with dummy knuckle couplers, if it is older stock which is a good possibility, then it has NMRA couplers. If you use MT or other working knuckle couplers you might have better luck.
I believe the riser sets give you around a 4-5% grade. Much too steep for most applications. The rule of thumb when designing a layout is to keep the grades less than 2%.
For guestimation purposes, every 1% increase in grade cuts your train length in half. The 0-6-0's will pull an 8-10 car train on level so the numbers you are seeing are about right.
As far as couplers you have 3 options:
Rapido - A rectangular hook
Dummy Knuckle - looks sort of like a real coupler. Will couple with Micro Trains, Atlas Accumate, and McHenry knuckle couplers.
Operating Knuckle - only on the most recent releases, will automatically couple with the other couplers and can be used with magnets under the track for automatic uncoupling.