I went out this weekend and bought a two foot by eight foot piece of pink 2” foam board. I had Lowe’s cut it into 2-two foot by four foot pieces so I could get it into my P/T Cruiser. When I got home I placed the tongue and groove sections together, making a four foot by four foot by 2” thick test board. I held the two pieces together by using good old duck tape. I then dug out the track and transformer that came with my On30 Spectrum Roaring Ridge Passenger Set. By turning the track cattycorner I could get two half circles with a straight piece of track in between. (I used Tee headed straight pins 1-¼” long to hold the track to the foam board. These pins come 1" to 2" long, in quarter inch increases. I found these pins in the quilting section of Michaels arts and craft store.) This test layout is very light weight and can be carried around the house and placed just about anywhere. When not in use I store it behind the couch in the den. Nothing special about the track. The new Bachmann new sectional track went together fast. It took no more than 45 minutes from start to finish. I checked all the joins to make sure I got all the connectors hooked up right and I had smooth joins. I think I could have been quicker if my 2 year old grandson didn’t want to help. A one foot piece of duck tape kept him busy for most of the set up time. Funny what a 2 year old can do with duck tap and think it is fun.
Anyway, I ran my 2-6-0 around and around to break it in both backward and forward, slowly and fast as I dared. My grandson Griffin and I had a lot of fun watching the engine chase its tail. I slowly added the passenger cars without very little voltage drop. This engine ran extremely smooth right out of the box. Then I put my HO scale Bachmann GE 70-ton switcher on to run. I want to makes sure this was broken in and ran smoothly before I start kit bashing it into a 30 ton switcher made by BVM. Well it started to derail right away. I checked the track where it derailed. Everything seemed smooth in the area that the derailing took place. So I re-railed it and ran it over the same area and it derailed before I could get over to where it derailed again. So I skipped that area and started to run it again from the derail point on. I ran over to watch where it derailed to get a closer look, but it derailed at another place on the track. After half hour trying to find out what is causing this engine to derail, I gave up. We had company coming over so I had to pack everything away. I haven’t had time to set up the test track again. What should I be looking for? It doesn’t derail all the time in the same place every time. It seems to be derailing as it goes into a curve or coming out of a curve I think, looking back at the session with this engine. I did notice that some of the On30 passenger cars coupler hose thing that hangs down did drag on the rail top and actually flipped inside and outside of the rail head as this train went around the track. It didn’t seem to affect the train running forward or backward. Would this might be causing this engine to derail? Funny how sometimes the back trucks would derail or sometimes the front truck would derail. Anyone out there ever have this experience with their engines? I’m not sure what is causing the derailment. When I sit to watch it real close to derail, it fools me and derails in a different place. Like it has eyes and is making a fool out of me. HELP!!!!!
Wimpy
Wiscasset & Carrabassett Ry.
The biggest, littlest railroad, down east
Anyway, I ran my 2-6-0 around and around to break it in both backward and forward, slowly and fast as I dared. My grandson Griffin and I had a lot of fun watching the engine chase its tail. I slowly added the passenger cars without very little voltage drop. This engine ran extremely smooth right out of the box. Then I put my HO scale Bachmann GE 70-ton switcher on to run. I want to makes sure this was broken in and ran smoothly before I start kit bashing it into a 30 ton switcher made by BVM. Well it started to derail right away. I checked the track where it derailed. Everything seemed smooth in the area that the derailing took place. So I re-railed it and ran it over the same area and it derailed before I could get over to where it derailed again. So I skipped that area and started to run it again from the derail point on. I ran over to watch where it derailed to get a closer look, but it derailed at another place on the track. After half hour trying to find out what is causing this engine to derail, I gave up. We had company coming over so I had to pack everything away. I haven’t had time to set up the test track again. What should I be looking for? It doesn’t derail all the time in the same place every time. It seems to be derailing as it goes into a curve or coming out of a curve I think, looking back at the session with this engine. I did notice that some of the On30 passenger cars coupler hose thing that hangs down did drag on the rail top and actually flipped inside and outside of the rail head as this train went around the track. It didn’t seem to affect the train running forward or backward. Would this might be causing this engine to derail? Funny how sometimes the back trucks would derail or sometimes the front truck would derail. Anyone out there ever have this experience with their engines? I’m not sure what is causing the derailment. When I sit to watch it real close to derail, it fools me and derails in a different place. Like it has eyes and is making a fool out of me. HELP!!!!!
Wimpy
Wiscasset & Carrabassett Ry.
The biggest, littlest railroad, down east