Model Railway Forum

Hi, i’m new to this hobby and have put together a peco set track double loop in OO gauge. There are two points (in series) that allows transfer from one loop to the other.
I also bought (from ebay) a DCC fitted flying scotsman loco and carriages. The loco and tender are connected by a metal rod and also two small wires (is it a tender drive model?) the loco cannot cross the two points without derailling and it looks like its because the connecting wire is too tight to allow sufficient articulation between loco and tender. Before i go any further (and butcher the layout or tender), please could someone advise if this is a known issue when the loco and tender are connected by wires?
Thank you.

What radius are the points, as the Flying Scotsman will NOT go round reliably radius 1 points. Radius 2 might also be unreliable , even if laid perfectly. No amount of butchering will fix sometimes...

I think they are 2nd radius. They are called ST-240 insulfrog
Thanks,

They are UK 2nd radius, their are no UK 1st radius points - presumably you have some curves of the same radius (R606/R607/ST-225/ST-226/ST-227)and if it does not derail on those then there is enough play in the wires - if there were too much that could be the cause of derailments through the wires getting snagged. The wires should be centrally positioned. A loco derailing on a point is normally down the back-to-back, the distance between each pair of wheels on a single axle, being out on a least one wheel set. Markits and DCC Concepts, and others, make back to back gauges, you need a normal / standard one not fine scale

Thanks Mike. I do have some st225 and st226 curves. The loco goes round them very smoothly and at good speed too.
The wire between the loco and the tender are not in the middle. On the loco the wire is a bit to the right of centre and on the tender it’s an equal distance to the left, so it goes diagonally across from loco to tender. When hooked together, the tender doesn’t naturally sit directly behind the loco, but slightly to one side. Once on a track it’s the same because the four set of wheels on the tender have a degree of sideways play and results in the tender looking like it’s running slightly out of alignment.

I have now discovered that the drawbar is held onto the tender with a screw but on the loco side the screw head is smaller than the hole in the drawbar so when lifting it off the track it easily can become detached. I wondered if this was normal. The model number is Hornby 3284TTS.