Any Tips for resurrecting?

[Terry Toenges]

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.

[bbmiroku]

Nothing says Gulf Christmas like a Tee shirt and shorts, huh?

[Trainman203]

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 😱🤭😂😂😂.

[bbmiroku]

Ho Oh No.

[infamouselijah]

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.

[Trainman203]

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. 

[bill2009]

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.

[Terry Toenges]

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.

[jward]

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.

[bill2009]

@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

[Len]

You could also trim the coupler box off the cars with the truck mounted couplers and body mount Kadee couplers.

Len

[Trainman203]

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.

[bbmiroku]

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.