While I'm waiting for my new wheels to arrive, I'll get back to my turnout project.  I modified one of my turnouts like you described.  I used a paper clip straightened out and shaped.  I found a little slide switch in my junk box, so I plan to see if I can connect it to the paper clip in such a way as to get some snap action when I throw the points.  I have to establish a solid relationship between the turnout and the slide switch.  All my track now is just sitting on the table.  Nothing is anchored down yet.

I hope I'm not belaboring the subject, but I'm aiming for a Thorough Understanding.  So, it seems that it doesn't matter which truck wobbles, or what direction the car is rolling.  Is that right?  Also, what is the benefit of the 3 point suspension, as opposed to having both trucks not wobble?  Or both trucks wobbling?  Seems like wobbling would be a Bad Thing, even for one truck.  I've had some cars literally topple off the track because of their wobbling.  (I'll have to admit to also having them improperly weighted, making them top heavy.)  (Made me laugh when it happened.)

QuoteThe proper terminology would be a end and b end.  The b end is the end of the car where the brake wheel is.

The method roger is talking about is to tighten down the truck on the a end so that it can pivot but not rock.  The truck on the b end is left a little looser so that it can rock side to side.  The 3 points of suspension then become the bolster of the a truck, and the wheels on each side of the b truck.

All right then there now.  That clears that up once and for all.  Thanks.  So I take it that the car should roll forward in a certain direction.  I would guess that the b end should trail.  Is that right?  Is that the way it is with Real Trains?  Break wheel on the trailing end?  No brakes on the front (a) truck?  That would make sense.  When I drove the big truck, my trailer breaks were way more effective than my tractor breaks.  When I didn't have a trailer, it was hard to stop.

QuoteRuf, put simply here is the scoop on the 3 point suspension method: the screw on one truck gets tightened all the way down till it don't move, then back off (loosen) the screw just enough to allow the truck to freely rotate, left and right.  The other screw is kept looser, allowing the truck to not only rotate left and right but wobble up and down.

So far, what work I have done mounting a truck to a car I have done with one screw right in the middle of the truck where there is one hole.  So where does the second screw go, the one you keep looser?  Or are we talking about two trucks, one just barely free to rotate, and the other left loose to wobble?  I may come closer to understanding the concept, if we can just talk about one truck at a time.  We could call them first truck and second truck unless there is a better name to use.  Also, why is it called 3 point suspension?  What are the three points?

Lots of good ideas here, y'all.  I'm not grasping the three-point suspension concept yet, but maybe I will after I've tinkered with the trucks a little more.  I couldn't get the truck tuner from Micro Mark because they are back ordered.  Maybe later.  Meanwhile I have two new Bettendorf trucks to experiment with and I have wheelsets ordered.  After y'all mentioned bird shot, I remembered I have a pound or two of B-B's left over from my grandkids.

Indeed, most of my wheels and axles are plastic.  I'll get some new metal wheel sets.  I have more than one length of axles, so I'll have to do an inventory.  After I get that truck tuning tool, and all new wheels, a lot of my anxiety and frustration should be eliminated.

Now, as far as weight is concerned, I have lots of pennies.  Isn't there a guideline for weight?  Like one ounce per inch of car length or something?  I saw the formula somewhere, but I don't remember where.  Most of the cars I have weighted, are about 4-1/2 ounces, and they seem kind of heavy.  Maybe with the correct wheels they wouldn't need to be so heavy?  I think I've been using weight in a futile effort to keep the cars on the track, in ignorance of the Plastic Wheel Phenomenon.

Some of my trucks are held in by pins, and some by screws.  I don't particularly like the pins, but I don't know that they're causing any trouble.  At least they're easier to deal with than those little microscopic screws.  I saw where somebody said to fill the hole with glue, drill and thread a hole for a 2-56 screw, and use that to hold the truck on.  Does that sound like a good idea?  What glue would be hard enough to drill and tap?

Okay, I found the truck tuner at Micro Mark, but isn't there also a tool for working on the axles?

Thanks, everybody.  Looks like a wealth of information here!

I may be kicking a dead horse, but I'm trying to restore some old rail cars I bought on eBay.  (I'm beginning to see why they wanted to get rid of them.)  Anyway, I thought I saw somewhere that there is such a thing as tools for reshaping the axle sockets on the trucks and the ends of plastic axles.  Do any of you know whether there is such a thing, and where I can find them?  I know I could buy new wheels and trucks, but I like to tinker a little, if I can.  I think some of these old wheels would work if they had pointed axles instead of rounded.

I got to where I'm pretty good at changing the couplers and adjusting their height.  I'm still learning how to deal with unsprung turnouts.  Now I'm trying to learn how to deal with trucks and wheels.  I discovered they are causing some of my derailing and dragging.  And unwanted uncoupling.

Thanks for the suggestion, Len.  I can't tell much just reading it, but I'll print it and follow your instructions after I take that bottom plate off.  I don't have to worry about ruining anything.  It's no good as it is, anyway.

Thanks to everyone for your helpful input.

My remote turnouts work okay electrically, but I want to operate all my turnouts manually.  I've been looking at such turnouts on another website.  They're made by Atlas, and they are manually operated.  I figure to get some of them, and see whether I can adapt them to use with e-z track.  I'll get away from e-z track altogether if that's what it takes.  I don't think it will come to that; I believe I can find a way to adapt.

All right then there now.  What if I got some turnouts that the Caboose industries ground throw would fit?  Couldn't I adapt regular turnouts to work with E-Z track?  Maybe I could put some road bed under them?  Maybe I should use all regular track, and get away from e-z track altogether.  The e-z track seemed to be such a good idea, but now it doesn't seem so.  I can't seem to find any manual e-z track turnouts to buy.  That seem odd, because how did I get the ones I already have?  I think maybe they came with a track expansion set.  I'll try to figure out a way to ask Bachmann about it.

I have a couple of manual e-z track turnouts that I love.  I have several others that are designed to work electrically, but I don't love them; the points don't snap into place like the others.  I've been looking at ways to fix them and the Caboose Industries ground throw gadget looks like the most promising.  However, all the pictures and videos I've seen show them fitting onto a bar that is attached to the points.  My points don't have that bar; there is a lever on the side of the track bed that doesn't look compatible with the ground throw gadget.  Is there another similar gadget that would fit my points and/or that lever on the road bed?  I saw some videos that showed how to make some home made springs with paper clips or piano wire.  I could try that if I have to, but I'd rather find something easier.

Yes, that does sound complicated, but I can visualize the operation.  I don't have a snap relay yet, so that will be my next step.  I can see that a snap relay would be better than the automatic module because of the cost.  Since I have to throw the switch anyway, the snap relay/switch motor combination would be near enough automatic.

Meanwhile, I have discovered more mysteries concerning track power.  After I isolated my wye, I ran the train over it expecting it to stop.  On one leg, it stopped all right, but on the other leg, it stopped at a whole other turnout before it got to the isolated section.  I'll have to do some investigating, but it seems to have something to do with the frog.  I figure to take some continuity readings and compare with another turnout.  Please let me know if you hear of a way I can get some schematic diagrams.  A picture really is worth a thousand words.

Okay, so I'll trim my roadbed for the #5 wye, and I'll use a separate transformer for accessories.  Thanks, y'all.