07-12-2010, 11:00 AM
Gary, do you have one of these tools? <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.micromark.com/HO-TRUCK-TUNER,8241.html">http://www.micromark.com/HO-TRUCK-TUNER,8241.html</a><!-- m --> If you don't have one, get it! It is the best way that I know of to make poorly performing trucks into free rolling trucks!
The other thing that may affect it is tuning the trucks to the freight car. The "three point" suspension system for freight cars has been "gospel" forever in model railroading. I was at a model railroad gathering recently where the focus was on clinics all day, rather than operating layouts. One of the clinics was given by a member of a local model railroad club where they used to have problems with rolling stock derailing regularly because the track was not absolutely perfect. They came up with a solution to the problem that did not require the club to rip up their layout and relay all of the track!
What he discovered is that mass and weight does not scale well. Therefore a suspension system that works for a prototype weighing thousands of lbs doesn't work reliably for a model weighing a few ounces. IN case anyone is not familiar with the three point suspension system, it consist of having one truck on a car set just tight enough that it will rotate freely, but not rock. The other truck should rotate but also rock slightly. What he discovered was that if a truck will not rock on a model, if there is any place that the track is less than absolutely perfect, the wheels on that truck would lift off and the car or locomotive would frequently derail. His solution is to place a locomotive or car on the tracks and using one finger, tip the top of the car 1 scale foot ( in ho scale @1/8 inch). If the wheels on either truck lift, that truck is too tight. If you can tilt the car significantly more than one scale foot without the wheels lifting, the trucks are too loose. I haven't tried it, but there were a number of guys from that club there who said that setting up the rolling stock in that way made a huge difference to the point that when newbys joined the club they frequently had derailment problems with their trains. Once the rolling stock was set up this way, derailments became a thing of the past if nothing was bumped and no earthquakes occured.
The other thing that may affect it is tuning the trucks to the freight car. The "three point" suspension system for freight cars has been "gospel" forever in model railroading. I was at a model railroad gathering recently where the focus was on clinics all day, rather than operating layouts. One of the clinics was given by a member of a local model railroad club where they used to have problems with rolling stock derailing regularly because the track was not absolutely perfect. They came up with a solution to the problem that did not require the club to rip up their layout and relay all of the track!
What he discovered is that mass and weight does not scale well. Therefore a suspension system that works for a prototype weighing thousands of lbs doesn't work reliably for a model weighing a few ounces. IN case anyone is not familiar with the three point suspension system, it consist of having one truck on a car set just tight enough that it will rotate freely, but not rock. The other truck should rotate but also rock slightly. What he discovered was that if a truck will not rock on a model, if there is any place that the track is less than absolutely perfect, the wheels on that truck would lift off and the car or locomotive would frequently derail. His solution is to place a locomotive or car on the tracks and using one finger, tip the top of the car 1 scale foot ( in ho scale @1/8 inch). If the wheels on either truck lift, that truck is too tight. If you can tilt the car significantly more than one scale foot without the wheels lifting, the trucks are too loose. I haven't tried it, but there were a number of guys from that club there who said that setting up the rolling stock in that way made a huge difference to the point that when newbys joined the club they frequently had derailment problems with their trains. Once the rolling stock was set up this way, derailments became a thing of the past if nothing was bumped and no earthquakes occured.