Tinkering with 2 small layouts

[RobertInOntario]

Rob, in the second pic (IMG_0093 GIF) it appears to have a kink in the track leading off the straight section of that turnout on the left. A member of our modular club did a clinic titled "Trackwork For Dummys" at our club meeting last Wed. He pointed out that if track looks bad it will be bad. Basically, if you can see a kink, you will have derailment problems. One trick he showed us that I had never thought of before is to get a section of the metal shelving brackets that mount metal shelving brackets to walls. ... If you feel a bump, either from a variation of rail height, or misalignment of the rails, or any sort of angle or tangent from one rail to the other, your trains will probably derail regularly at that point. He suggested that the best test was to push your longest car through the track work with a second car coupled to it for a "handle" to see if it operates smoothly. If you have track problems, he suggested, tear it out and start over in that area. If it is bad to start with, it won't get better, only worse.

Thanks, Russ. Yes, I also noticed that kink in the pic but did not see it on the actual layout -- it took the photo to show it up.

Ironically, I get very few problems in that area although one of my pacifics hesitates/pauses, right there where the kink is. I will definitely try to fix that, following your suggestions.

I also think that it's a good point to totally start over (i.e. re-lay the track) in any problematic sections. If you don't, the problem won't go away, it will just keep recurring.

Thanks again,
Rob