On another blog (I forget which one right now) I read about track tuning and checking the level across the rails. Sure enough, the curve coming into this turnout from the left is banked slightly towards the center, which is fine, but the turnout is flat through the points. Actually, it was slightly banked away from the center, so I could see how that sudden change in level might cause trouble for certain finicky rolling stock or locomotives.
My solution was to shim the turnout, seen above as the white strip beneath the ties in the lower center of the image. This did the trick, eliminating most of the incidents of derailments in this location. The only thing remaining that might cause an issue is the funky taper on the ends of the point rails. Atlas clips the corner off the top of the point rail, which is already a pressed-metal quasi-rail to begin with, so it becomes a tricky thing to file without doing damage. A gentle touch is required.
Work continues on a mini scene for a Railroad-Line forum challenge, and when that is complete sometime before tax day I will return to the benchwork for this railroad in earnest; hopefully sooner than later. Also on the wish list is helping my oldest son with a project this week that might become a post if we get anywhere with it, and maybe even some rolling stock work. We'll see.
Galen, does both sides of the turnout work> I had always read that turnouts had to be flat or you risked having a twist that would cause derailments.
ReplyDeleteThis thing says that it is identifying me with my email address, but in case it says anonymous as it has in the past, this is Russ Bellinis.
Hey Russ. Yes, I have been running locomotives and various arrangements of cars through it forwards and back at speeds fast and slow, through each leg of the turnout, and thankfully there have been almost zero issues. In fact, the issues that have shown up point to rolling stock problems - wheels slightly out of gauge, mostly.
DeleteAnd in actuality, I think I did more to "level" the turnout in relation to the track approaching the points. This kept the wheels from wanting to suddenly lurch the other way from the direction they were traveling.
And yes, strangely, you showed up as unknown again. Weird. Glad to hear from you.
Yes it seems to insist on calling me unknown so it is easier for me to make sure I put my name in my comments.
DeleteThinking of you,
Russ Bellinis