02-15-2023, 08:52 PM
Thanks everyone for the great positive feedback as I enter the homestretch in Mud Run. I've been up to my ears in difficulties while running trains this week and I've been trying some different combinations of equipment in attempts to understand some basic issues currently plaguing Rainbows in the Gorge.
You may recall a post a couple of weeks ago about spending a Saturday in track rebuild mode. In ballasting a tricky section of track I'd ended up resecuring the track to the roadbed and altered the lay of the track and suffered a multitude of derailments, especially with my nemesis, The Apollo. The Apollo is a re-creation of a Trailer over Flatcar fast-freight service that used to run on the former LV mainline and taken over by the Delaware and Hudson at the start of Conrail. I have 18 flatcars, 89' 6" long with a variety of piggyback trailers and containers on them. The couplers are body mounted and a good distance from the trucks which are inboard probably by about 12'. These cars are a challenge on a hilly, curvy layout like mine. Add in trailers balanced on a single support frame that roll a good bit coming around corners, and you have the recipe for disaster, especially if you're in the foreground finishing business like I am in Mud Run.
Anyway, I'd been running the Apollo around the upper (viewing) level of my layout to verify that the track through Mud Run was still supportive of operations with the Apollo. What I failed to reverify was the operation of the same train coming up from the storage level at a steady 2% grade and then making the turn around Mud Run while every car in the train was below the grade of the locomotives pulling it. Whatever slight change I'd made to the alignment of the track was the last domino in a chain of necessity that decreed that as those locomotives came around the curve that the trucks on the first flatcars would pull into the curve and derail. Trailers fell off the decks of the flatcars and got wedged in my new scenery in the curve, couplers were pulled out, locomotives fell over, the little hair in my head was pulled out, etc.
Looked at a lot of stuff, and spent a good deal of time running individual flat cars and tuning them. Found a cracked end of a flat car that was supposed to support the coupler pocket, a few saggy couplers that would catch on rails or ties, tight trucks, etc. Played around with train length and reduced the length of the train (a 2% grade is substantial, and when the full length of it is running up hill, there's a lot of stress on those couplers and there's quite a bit of lateral force on the wheel flanges as they negotiate curves being pulled from the front (by the locomotive consist) and the rear (by the rest of the train).
Even with the tune-ups I still wasn't satisfied with the operation. I typically run the Apollo counterclockwise, and that S-turn in Mud Run is on the uphill grade running that way. Reversed the operation to run clockwise (downhill through the S), and things are a lot better and I think I can now see light at the end of the tunnel.
So, here's my advice:
- Long cars (flats, box cars, passenger cars, auto carriers) can be tough to run on lots of layouts. If you want to run these monsters, do your homework. It's not just the radius considerations you should address. Total train length, turning cars on a radius and running around that radius while running up and down grades should all be considered. All changes in grade should be very smooth and gradual. I'm right on that hairy edge with Mud Run and would probably rethink the design if it weren't so close to being finished.
- Passing tracks with these monsters can also be a problem in curves. Give yourself plenty of leeway.
- If you run TOFC, consider methods to secure trailers to the flats. A wayward trailer can do a lot of damage if it decides to slide off the deck of the flat.
- There's a good bit of variation in coupler height from manufacturer to manufacturer. I have Walthers, Atlas, Accurail and maybe a few others, and attention to keeping similar coupler heights together in the train will probably save you a good bit of aggravation.
Been doing a little more scenery work as I tweak train operation. Hope to show that in the next few days.
You may recall a post a couple of weeks ago about spending a Saturday in track rebuild mode. In ballasting a tricky section of track I'd ended up resecuring the track to the roadbed and altered the lay of the track and suffered a multitude of derailments, especially with my nemesis, The Apollo. The Apollo is a re-creation of a Trailer over Flatcar fast-freight service that used to run on the former LV mainline and taken over by the Delaware and Hudson at the start of Conrail. I have 18 flatcars, 89' 6" long with a variety of piggyback trailers and containers on them. The couplers are body mounted and a good distance from the trucks which are inboard probably by about 12'. These cars are a challenge on a hilly, curvy layout like mine. Add in trailers balanced on a single support frame that roll a good bit coming around corners, and you have the recipe for disaster, especially if you're in the foreground finishing business like I am in Mud Run.
Anyway, I'd been running the Apollo around the upper (viewing) level of my layout to verify that the track through Mud Run was still supportive of operations with the Apollo. What I failed to reverify was the operation of the same train coming up from the storage level at a steady 2% grade and then making the turn around Mud Run while every car in the train was below the grade of the locomotives pulling it. Whatever slight change I'd made to the alignment of the track was the last domino in a chain of necessity that decreed that as those locomotives came around the curve that the trucks on the first flatcars would pull into the curve and derail. Trailers fell off the decks of the flatcars and got wedged in my new scenery in the curve, couplers were pulled out, locomotives fell over, the little hair in my head was pulled out, etc.
Looked at a lot of stuff, and spent a good deal of time running individual flat cars and tuning them. Found a cracked end of a flat car that was supposed to support the coupler pocket, a few saggy couplers that would catch on rails or ties, tight trucks, etc. Played around with train length and reduced the length of the train (a 2% grade is substantial, and when the full length of it is running up hill, there's a lot of stress on those couplers and there's quite a bit of lateral force on the wheel flanges as they negotiate curves being pulled from the front (by the locomotive consist) and the rear (by the rest of the train).
Even with the tune-ups I still wasn't satisfied with the operation. I typically run the Apollo counterclockwise, and that S-turn in Mud Run is on the uphill grade running that way. Reversed the operation to run clockwise (downhill through the S), and things are a lot better and I think I can now see light at the end of the tunnel.
So, here's my advice:
- Long cars (flats, box cars, passenger cars, auto carriers) can be tough to run on lots of layouts. If you want to run these monsters, do your homework. It's not just the radius considerations you should address. Total train length, turning cars on a radius and running around that radius while running up and down grades should all be considered. All changes in grade should be very smooth and gradual. I'm right on that hairy edge with Mud Run and would probably rethink the design if it weren't so close to being finished.
- Passing tracks with these monsters can also be a problem in curves. Give yourself plenty of leeway.
- If you run TOFC, consider methods to secure trailers to the flats. A wayward trailer can do a lot of damage if it decides to slide off the deck of the flat.
- There's a good bit of variation in coupler height from manufacturer to manufacturer. I have Walthers, Atlas, Accurail and maybe a few others, and attention to keeping similar coupler heights together in the train will probably save you a good bit of aggravation.
Been doing a little more scenery work as I tweak train operation. Hope to show that in the next few days.
Check out my "Rainbows in the Gorge" website: http://morristhemoosetm.wixsite.com/rainbows