Commonwealth passenger trucks

IS THERE SOME MAGIC SECRET TO KEEPING COMMONWEALTH TRUX E-
QUIPPED HVTWGT PASS CARS FROM CONSTANLY DERAILING? MY TRAX
ARE CORRECTLY GAUGED,WHLS CORRECLY SPACED AND FREE ROL
LING IN THEIR SOCKETS,COUPLERS AT THE CORRECT HGT, THE CARS ARE NMRA CORRECT WGTS

I'M SERIOUSLY THINKING OF POPPING OUT THE MIDDLE WHEELS AS A LAST RESORT .
OOPS,SORRY, THIS SHOULD'VE BEEN SENT TO SCALE RAILROADING!!!!

If these are rivarossi, IHC, or AHM cars that would explain everything. If they are cars that originally had truck mounted or still have truck mounted couplers then that could be your problem too. The rivarossi/ahm/ihc cars dont have their pivot points centered in the truck and thats what causes the derailaments since they wont turn well.

Yeah...if you can share a little more about what equipment you're using, we can troubleshoot a bit more for you. The other obvious thing AntNJTrainSet didn't mention is that if your trucks are screwed to the carbody, I've often had good luck backing the screws off 1/8-1/4 turn. Oh, and please don't use text message spelling--it's waaay too hard for me to read!

Yea, forgot about that one! I should know I had that exact problem with the Walthers NJ Transit coaches when I put new inboard bearing trucks on them. If the screws arent backed out just enough to allow lateral movement and such your cars will indefinatly derail. As SlowFreight also mentioned, give us a model manufacture and the type of car and that will really help alot in diagnosing your issue.

THE 6 CAR CONSIST IS MADE UP OF 5-RIVAROSSI AND 1-AHM;ALL IN
CNJ BLUE COMET COLORS. I PULLED OFF THE HORN HOOKS AND RE-
PLACED THEM WITH KADEE 5'S. MY CURVES ARE ALL AT LEAST 24"
RADIUS,SOME EVEN SUPER ELEVATED JUST TO SEE WHAT THAT LOOKS
LIKE(IT'S NEAT,BY THE WAY)

Can you not type in all caps, please?

The Rivarossis are known for derailing because of the pin that mounts the trucks on the car floors/frames is usually not centered and this causes the trucks to not track well. When you put the Kadees on did you get the direct snap in replacements that attach to the trucks or did you mount them to the car floors/frames directly? Also check your car weights, they should be properly NMRA weighted. The coaches I had from Rivarossi were so light you could fly them on a kite.

As Otto said...

"Can you not type in all caps, please?"


I DON'T KNOW WHAT WE'RE YELLING ABOUT!!!!!!!


But seriously...

Cut the coupler pockets off the trucks and mount your couplers on the bodies of your cars (it takes stress off the trucks, which might be what's going on here*). You should build a pad of various thicknesses of styrene to mount your Kadee coupler pocket to the bottom of the car. Not only will it make the process easier (a stable platform to mount the pocket to) but will also help you establish a uniform height for the couplers on your rolling stock.

I would also suggest getting a Kadee coupler height gauge (it looks like a weight with a coupler attached to it... ask your friendly neighborhood hobby store clerk about it) to assist you with this.

Also, as AntNJTrainSet mentioned, add weight. Lighter cars usually don't track as well as those with some "heft" to them. You can get weights at the hobby shop... or, you can super glue fishing weights to your cars (an inexpensive alternative).

Something else to ask... what curve radius are you running these cars on? Maybe you're running too long of cars on too sharp a radius?

Hope that helps in some small way.


* A simplified answer I know, but I'm not in the mood to lecture on physics at the moment.

Komachi wrote:Cut the coupler pockets off the trucks and mount your couplers on the bodies of your cars (it takes stress off the trucks, which might be what's going on here*).
* A simplified answer I know, but I'm not in the mood to lecture on physics at the moment.

You could at least have said "force" instead of "stress." Stress wouldn't be good for the trucks either, but sideways forces from the couplers are what can lead to derailments.