Model Railway Forum

https://youtu.be/WD0Mui9Xkuc

Nothing like some Ian Drury to blow off steam. A brilliant artist, may he rest in peace. The Salt Mines of Numidia were a place that Rome sent
convicts. A pun upon the workplace.

Enjoyed that one Chops.
Bit of a banana skin moment for the Fiffe wagon early on.

Puddles

Always a challenge, these things. It seems the majority of derailments are caused by buffer bind. Track isn’t
microscopically perfect, but hooks and buffers binding up on any given radius is always a chore. Am I the only one
with this problem? Do these narrow couplers work better, to that end? Though the cost and trouble of converting
would seem a nightmare.

Hi Chops
I found that some of my wagons were very light and were prone to derailing so l added some lead weights to them and they ran much better. It was trial and error finding the exact weight to suit each wagon. I did have a bend at the bottom of an incline where some carriages would slide of the track Sometimes. I put a thin slither of cardboard under the outer rail and it cured the problem. I also found a few second hand wagons I purchased from E Bay had
Slightly bent axles and would sometimes derail going over points it was never constant only now and then.
I put new sets of wheels on which Solved it.
Puddles

Hi Chops,
no you're not the only one to have such problems.
As Puddles says adding weight to wagons can help, as can making sure that couplings are at the correct height and that the hooks are straight.
If anything I've found that the narrower couplings can be worse than the bigger ones.
One of the worst set of wagons I have for derailing when being pushed are my ICI limestone bogie hoppers, which are both light and have the narrow couplings.

Good to know, thanks.

Chops wrote: ↑Thu Jan 21, 2021 5:38 am Always a challenge, these things. It seems the majority of derailments are caused by buffer bind. Track isn’t
microscopically perfect, but hooks and buffers binding up on any given radius is always a chore. Am I the only one
with this problem? Do these narrow couplers work better, to that end? Though the cost and trouble of converting
would seem a nightmare.

Narrow couplings are used because they are less of an eyesore BUT wide couplings do allow for sharper curves to be negotiated. Narrow couplings really need to be pivoted to go round sharp curves which can add unreliability issues.
Wide, medium and narrow couplings work best with their own type, so wide to wide work fine, but wide to narrow can be problematic.
Wide to medium or medium to narrow work but not always.
Some issues with 00 gauge tension lock couplings that I have noticed.
1. Hooks coming out and going missing.
2. Whole couplings falling off vehicles (E.g. Airfix models or the modern NEM pocketed items of stock which either fall out where they join the wagons or they break where they are designed to flex (Wear and tare especiallyif roughly handled).
3. Issues with different makes ans sizes. The length of small hooks being too short to reliably couple to larger sized couplings.
4. The "Buffer" part of the front of the couplings extending either too far out feom vehicles to leave massive gaps inbetween rolling stock OR worse still, them being too short so the real model buffers will bufferlock.
5. Sticky coupling hooks which don't go back down after being used.
6. They are not that compatible with the close coupling systems on coaches.
7. The NEM pocket system adds extra vertical flex which is mechanically speaking a nightmare where tension lock couplings are concerned.
8. Differences in coupled heights.

Now yes. If these issues can be overcome one has very reliable couplings. I love the late Triang and Hornby thin wide metal couplings because they blend in more but yet their width and strong construction means they will last years. Used coupled to their own types, they are extremely reliable. They only have issues when coupled to different designs of tension lock couplings. As a compromize I believe that if most of ones stock has the medium sized couplings fitted, then at least there will be fewer coupling size incompatibility issues overall.

A lot of issues with the general tension lock design was that manufacturers all started doing their own thing and some issues are with some models where they may have made wonderful models, but the couplings themselves seem to have been an afterthought in the design, so the couplings will stick out too far or be too close. Get it right and it is right. We have coaches which never needed close coupling as the tension locks were designed to be just the right distance so the buffering part and the length of the hooks were just right for the vehicles. The 1980's Hornby Mk2's are a perfect example of this. They may have used wide plastic moulded as part of the bogie loops, but look how well they couple with a minimum of gap between their vestible doors and yet they negotiate 1st radius curves with ease! (Ok, so their coupling hooks come off on occasions but apart from that they are spot on and their wide loops are less noticeable because they are correctly positioned so they do not stick out that far).

In an ideal world all couplings need to be of the same design to work well together. Unfortunately with 00 gauge this did not happen and the cost along with the work involved in rectifying this one may as well decide to use a different type of coupling system altogether such as Sprat & Winkle or Kadee or some other design. (Kadee for coaches and S&W for wagons? Is there room with coupling height so both can be made to work together without conflicting each other? Uhmmm!)

If you always run trains in same config. you can remove one of the hooks from TL couplings to reduce them interfering with each other. Most modern ones I've seen can be easily refiited if needs be (just don't throw them away!). Another trick I found was to bend the hooks inwards a little if the train only ever turns in one direction eg an oval designed track.

Very useful information. I was wondering if I was the only one. Thanks much.

https://youtu.be/l691cFQJyGE

Sorry for the double post, but I want to sing the praises of these Hornby and Rapido pieces. New technology, in the form of wooden wheel shrouds, are employed in the search for the Loch Ness Monster.