when my kids were young we had a CN Hustler set up on a 4X8 in the basement. It's been packed away for 25 years but with a 5 yr old grandson coming at christmas I figured I would get it out.
This is a basic set with locomotive plus 3 cars and there are a ton of extra tracks stored with it - i think we had a basic figure 8 with a flyover.
I set up the 36" circle and got the locomotive running well enough. I can not get any of the cars to stay on the track behind it though. It seems like the cars are so light that the spring of the connectors is enough to push them off the track on a curve. Weighting the hopper car seemed to help a bit but it still came off after a few minutes.
So: clearly i need to clean the tracks and maybe buy new joiners. Is there anything else that would help with the derailing? Any other general tips?
This could possibly be caused by poor quality track, or maybe your axles are not aligned correctly. What track are you using? EZ Track?
Bill,
As this is a basic set, you have already discovered the problem. Cars of that era were indeed under weight. There are little sticky weights you can get at most crafty stores like Hobby Lobby or Michaels. The kind you can stick on pinewood derby cars and the like. If you stick one or two on the bottom of the cars (not too much), that should help some. Too much weight could make it tough for that loco to pull the cars so don't over do it.
Regards,
Joanthan
Those "horn hook " couplers don't help either, with constant sideways pressure pushing the pizza cutter wheel flanges against poor rail joints.
With the car weight problems, the coupler problems, the engine drive problems, and the crummy track problems, it's a miracle anyone back then ever got past all of that and became a model railroader. Lionel 0-27 was much better play-value engineered.
Thanks for the responses.
@jonathan: I'll try some weights.
@infamouselijah: it's the basic bare metal track. I see the new ez track on amazon but i don't think it would mix with what i've got and it seemed quite expensive. I might have a look through a thrift store and see if i get lucky.
Maybe i could buy a new tender if the cars and connectors have improved.
One of the problems with the old style track is it needs to be fastened down. If it's not, the pressure of the wheels against the joints, especially in curves, can cause them to spread apart. When the gap gets wide enough, you get derailments. If you're not doing a permanent layout, your better off getting a track system with roadbed that locks together, like EZ-Track, Atlas True-Track, or Trix C-Track.
Len
Don't forget to check yard sales or flea markets, especially if your flea market has a semi-permanent area for a couple of sellers. My flea market has a train guy. He has a store (J & G Trains), but sells at the market the 'crap' that doesn't sell at the store. You can get tons of EZTrack for a few bucks. And since it's going to be a temporary thing, probably seasonal, get the black roadbed EZTrack. It's cheaper.
And...If you do decide on E-Z Track, get the track with the gray road bed and not the black. The track with black road bed will rust and the gray won't.
I still have the original track (black roadbed EZTrack) that came with the set my father bought for me about 20 years ago and it hasn't rusted yet, so I guess it really depends on how you keep it stored.
Or where you live. A week in outdoor Gulf Coast air renders nickel silver track useless.
Everybody say it with me... Oofd.
Never thought I'd be glad to live in Baltimore. :P
To the OP:
You are resurrecting an older train set. That may be an uphill battle depending on what you have. But there are steps you should take that should get you up and running. S ome others have mentioned, some not.
First thing is to make sure your cars have all wheels and axles in the proper position. Checque to see if any axles have popped out of their trucks, if they did, reseat them before you start. Do they look like all wheels and axles are in alignment? Sometimes wheels work their way out of guage. If this has happened, you should be able to see which ones are out of spec by turning the car over and carefully observing their alignment. If all wheels appear to be the same distance apart on their axles, you should be OK. If not, set that car aside. Next, spin the wheels by hand (You won't be able to do this on the locomotive) to see if any wobble on their axles. If they do, set that car aside. Do you see any places where the wheel flange is missing or chipped away? Set that car aside. Last, make sure the trucks themselves pivot freely. There should be no resistance whatsoever as they turn. The same thing applies to the couplers between the cars. They should not bind as you move them.
With the track, it should be securely fastened to whatever surface you have it on, so that it doesn't move. All rail joints should be in alignment. There should be little if any gap between the rails where sections join. Make sure that all rails are seated inside the rail joiners. It is easy to connect sections so that one rail rides on top of the joiner rather than inside. This will definitely cause derailments.
From what you've written, I assume your locomotive is working well. That's a major plus.
You mentioned that all the cars derail. Do they all derail in the same place on the track? If so, look carefully at that spot for imperfections. Do they seem to derail at random as they run? If so, your problem is with the cars themselves.
Adding weight can definitely help. I've found the most cost effective way to place about 5 pennies in each end of the car. Superglue them in place over the trucks if possible. This works well for box cars and reefers. With tank cars, you glue the pennies in a stack, then place the stack on its side inside the tank bottom. Covered hoppers you should be able to place your weight inside the bottom bays closest to each truck. Coal hoppers and ore cars you will probably have to conceal the weights inside of a load. With flats and gondolas. you can use metal structural shapes available at any decent hobby shop to make a realistic looking load that acts as a weight.
Good luck! Kids LOVE a good running train.
Trainman - How would the Gulf Coast air affect it other than maybe getting it wet?
Short answer- salt air.
Ps. Next time you are shoveling snow in Baltimore, check out the weather in Gulfport MS. 😂😂😂😂😂
@jward: good tips. I did not have the track fastened down and i did not look carefully for causes - i will do so.
Thanks. I wasn't thinking about salt in the air. I've only been to Baltimore once in my life and that was in spring I think.
Nothing says Gulf Christmas like a Tee shirt and shorts, huh?
Yep. Sandals too. We love it. "🎼I'm dreaming of a hot Christmas....🎼". 😂
On the flip side, one July I saw a huge overweight sunburning white bearded guy in a red Speedo working on an outboard motor on the Intracoastal Canal down in Florida. Santa Claus on his summer vacation 😱🤭😂😂😂.
Ho Oh No.
I would suggest switching to EZ Track, because, as its name implies, it makes setup and alignment easy. However, depending on whether or not the old track has the same plug in terminal, you may need to purchase a more modern power pack/transformer/cord.
For simple Christmas tree layouts EZ Track can't be beat. I used it on my present layout to get the main line working within 3 days of beginning of benchwork construction , which happened.
So, an update:
I carefully aligned a circle track and glued it down with a few dabs of latex caulk at strategic points. I cleaned the track carefully and this eliminated all the basic issues so i could see what was going on.
The derailing seems to be due to the couplers. All the cars have the basic horn/hook couplers but the engine has them frame mounted while the inexpensive cars from the set have them mounted on the trucks. The mismatch seems to drive the lightweight cars off the rails almost immediately. Weighting them helps a bit but sooner or later they pop off. I have one hopper car that i must have bought separately. It has the same horn/hook but body mounted and it tracks perfectly behind the engine.
So, I think I need to put the cars from the set aside and buy another good quality caboose or passenger car to finish off a little train and call it good. I can look at replacing the body mounted couplers but maybe that's a secondary issue. I'm pretty sure now i can successfully put up a little layout and get my grandson involved at christmas. At 5 he's too young for it but it may fill an idle hour and spark an interest for him.
Thanks for the help and suggestions. Any further advice also appreciated.
First image shows the locomotive, the good quality open car, and the caboose from the set. Second image shows the couplers of the locomotive and the better quality car. Third image shows the caboose coupler.
(https://thelongrides.files.wordpress.com/2018/11/img_2903.jpg)
(https://thelongrides.files.wordpress.com/2018/11/img_2905.jpg)
(https://thelongrides.files.wordpress.com/2018/11/img_2906.jpg)
If you are not going to be using an "in the track" uncoupler, I wonder if cutting off the round "pins" hanging down would help. Sometimes they can get caught on the track if there is a lot of play in the couplers. Sometimes they can hang too low.
whatever cars you buy now will most likely have knuckle type couplers. Ideally, you'd want to convert your locomotive to this type of couplers, but you may run into issues with coupler height. The Roundhouse gondola you have should be pretty close to the proper height for knuckle couplers, so you may want to convert just one end to this type of coupler, and use it as an adapter between your locomotive and the newer cars.
Another route to go may be to go to a train show. There will be people selling older cars and locomotives, and you can look for used cars with body mounted horn hooks. They aren't that hard to find, and are a fraction of the cost of buying new.
@terry: thanks, i haven't had a problem with uncoupling, just derailing.
@jward: Yes, one end of the gondola has the horn hook coupler and the other end has none so it would be a good connector car. A train show would be excellent but i think i've missed the ones in ottawa this year. There's quite a train-focused hobby shop in ottawa and i'm sure they'll help me out now that i have more of a clue. I note too that a web site called "central hobby" has reasonably priced roundhouse caboose's already assembled. They come with kaydee couplers but i can put one on the back of the gondola and have a complete-looking little outfit.
http://www.central-hobbies.com/products/roundhouseho.html#NECC
(http://www.central-hobbies.com/images/athearn/roundhouse3483.jpg)
You could also trim the coupler box off the cars with the truck mounted couplers and body mount Kadee couplers.
Len
Plastic knuckle couplers, while not as durable as metal ones, are very reasonably priced now. Most of those cars in the photos look like drop in deals for knuckle couplers. The engine may need a draft gear cover but an old credit card or some thick clear sheet packaging plastic that comes with most big box store stuff can provide material too, along with a years supply of clear glazing for windows in structures and cars.
While converting, you can make your present couplers mate with the new ones by appropriately whittling down and removing the annoying side pushing spring piece that is causing your derailments.
Terry, as a mostly second-hand railroader, I can tell you that after a while, even in proper storage, the back and forth of the horn-hook (X2F) couplers does indeed make them have some vertical play, especially when truck-mounted (Talgo). And they do occasionally get caught on the ties and stop the train (if near the front) or derail it (if anywhere else and on a curve). As soon as I buy an old car with X2Fs I cut the low-hanging pin and clip off the coupling horn until I can look up the proper size of Kadee coupler to buy at the next train show.
Bill, if you find yourself playing with it more than he does, Len is right; carefully cut off the coupler mounting bits on the Talgo trucks, invest in the Kadee couplers (make sure you get the right kind; frame heights on different types of cars and manufacturer's clearance differences means different clearances for the coupler) and make sure to get the frame-mounted ones. Follow the directions that come with the couplers and the diagrams on the Kadee website and you'll hardly have to worry about coupler-caused derails again.