Any Tips for resurrecting?

[bill2009]

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?

[infamouselijah]

This could possibly be caused by poor quality track, or maybe your axles are not aligned correctly. What track are you using? EZ Track?

[jonathan]

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

[Trainman203]

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.

[bill2009]

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.

[Len]

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

[bbmiroku]

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.

[Terry Toenges]

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.

[bbmiroku]

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.

[Trainman203]

Or where you live.  A week in outdoor Gulf Coast air renders nickel silver track useless.

[bbmiroku]

Everybody say it with me...  Oofd.

Never thought I'd be glad to live in Baltimore.

[jward]

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.

[Terry Toenges]

Trainman - How would the Gulf Coast air affect it other than maybe getting it wet?

[Trainman203]

Short answer- salt air.

Ps.  Next time you are shoveling snow in Baltimore, check out the weather in Gulfport MS. 😂😂😂😂😂

[bill2009]

@jward: good tips.  I did not have the track fastened down and i did not look carefully for causes - i will do so.