Peco OO curved point frog problem

I had to do that to my Hornby curved points. I didn't think Peco had the problem.

Had so much trouble with curved points that I dumped them - if possible suggest you do likewise. No back to back guage, ok then find a wagon thats correct and use it as a reference or inside calipers. Would very much advise checking back to back otherwise could be modifying the points for wrong width - will never be right and more locos, coaches, wagons then more problems. Test with wagon that you know is correct, if that doesnt go bang then compare loco B2B with that, it doesnt have to be exact.

Cheers, Simon

Their "universal" points all have/had inadequate check gauge. I had to increase it with the a 4-6 thou strip of plastic along the check rail. Oddly enough their flex track was tight gauge, so that on curves smaller than about 24" long wheel base bogies and engines hung up on it. That's why I don't use Peco anymore. We tossed all the Peco turnouts donated to the club, too.

cheers, wolf k.

Actually, because of variations in flange thickness, _check gauge_ is the key dimension. It's the span from the inside face of the frog (crossing) to the outer face of the check rail (the one that faces the opposite running rail). The Mark IV NMRA gauge measures this as go - no go. AFAIK, ganger's gauges measure the same dimension.

I didn't know how well the NMRA gauge would work for OO track, but so far I've had no problems with OO stock running on wheels with 14.5mm back to back, which seems to be the de facto OO standard, judging from reviews. 'Course, these are test runs only.

FWIW, my friend, who runs his trains at about 200 scale mph, has had no problems with Atlas and Shinohara curved turnouts built to NMRA standards and RPs.

cheers, wolf k.

Yes, I was just going to say that curved points are best avoided if possible as they do tend to cause a lot of problems like this.

Fred X

Only because most people don't use the gauges (or measure with a pair of calipers) that makes sure that the wheel sets and turnouts adhere to the standards chosen.

So you know that me and Fred dont check wheelsets properly ! Plus I'm to check Peco and Hornby curved points are correct - but what do I do if they arent ?

I recon its more that when you have points on a curve (that includes standard ones where 'straight through is curved bit) taken at high speed then everything must be perfect else whack ! That means always clean track and always clean wheels, track level, wheels not wobbly, enter curve at correc angle etc etc. Its a situation that just isnt forgiving, hence best avoided.

Cheers, Simon

That's correct.

Please describe the error.

SNIP

SNIP

So how do you know that ?

Cheers, Simon

Thanks chaps - He is posting me the offending point to see if I can 'fix' it, I'll try adding a shim, if that doesn't work I'll get a standard point and fettle that in for him.

I'll make a 14.5mm back to back measure for him as well, thanks for that.

In N the only bit of track that has caused me this problem was the Peco long crossing, straight and curved points from various firms makes all seem fine.

I understand that the Japanese track is very good, but it is also very expensive. In N I was playing 'continental' and using Fleichmann track, the cost of which made my eyes water. For this exercise cost is an issue, so it'll be Peco because I keep hearing 'bad things' about Hornby

Cost is also the reason for using slider switches and piano wire for point control, besides which I have used it in N with Peco track so I am fairly confident about getting it to work and allows me to feed power from the frog to the switch blades.

For the Fleichmann stuff I resorted to fishing line, with red and green coloured beads on the ends to indicate left and right setting but that doesn't switch power to the frog. Ten quid per motor was just a little too steep for my needs.

Regards

Mike

Because if you had checked the wheel sets and turnouts correctly against the standards and fixed any errors, then you wouldn't have a problem.

By the way, which set of standards do you use for your wheel sets and turnouts?

Unfortunately I cannot check your wheel sets and your turnouts for you, I have to rely on you to do it, but I can explain how to check them and how to fix them if you'll only tell a little more.

Hatton's sells Hornby, Peco and Seep motors for £4 each. Oddly, in Canada the Peco cost twice as much as the Hornby. Tortoise are more expensive.

I've bought some Seep (Gaugemaster) ones to try them out. They are small and simple, and include the facility for switching polarity if needed. You have to solder on your own leads, but that's not a major chore.

I gave up on the idea of making my own quiet, slow-acting point actuators using memory wire. Too much fiddling about.

Ok then standards are as per Peco specification. Points are Peco and B2B as recommended by them. I didnt have a problem with every bit of rolling stock, just with some occasionally. Like said, they are not very forgiving and I want to spend my time with things other than ensuring all wheels on all wagons, bogies etc are always perfect.

Cheers, Simon

Cheers, Simon

Well, I'm afraid that even high quality products often have wheels out of gauge, and turnouts may be off spec, too. I check wheels on all newly purchased items,. and adjust gage if necessary. On most axles, this can be done by twisting and pushing/pulling. A go/no go gauge (NMRA, for example) is IMO essential. NMRA "target" BtB is 14.5mm for 16.5mm gauge wheels, BTW.

cheers, wolf k.

Yep, me too. Also check after cleaning wheels just in case have been heavy handed as well as if something derails bit too often. Sometimes use Romford

00 guage else when that disappears for a while then a tetragonal weight from a loco that has one perfect dimension.

Cheers, Simon

Shim the check rail with 0.1." Plastikard. That works for me. Guy

Just zis Guy, you know? wrote: [...]

I think you mean 0.01"

cheers, wolf k.

Thanks, the problem is the design of the Fliechmann points uses a sliding lever on one side of the point, I'd need to do a bit of work to fit another type of motor to them. On the plus side using fishing line is dead easy (two holes lined with 'biro' tube either side of the lever, it has a nice 'pip' on it that means the line stays in place). One viable option would be wire and tube with a slider switch to operate the point, but at the time non of my local shops were selling bowden cable or other suitable tube, the wire can be light as very little force is required (no over-the-centre spring). The Fleichmann track is to be consigned to a 'train set' for someone's kiddie as I gather 7.5 inch radius curves are a no-no with non-Continental N Gauge and I am giving US outline a whirl (although the old Grafar 0-6-0 PT chassis and diesels all manage with no problem, as of course do Minitrix, Fleichman, Lima and (I suspect) anything with a very short wheelbase).

Regards

Mike

There was also a computer game called Chuckie Egg on the BBC Micro, Spectrum and Dragon back in 1983 which is well known among persons of my generation.