Uncoupling and Derailing troubles

[scottmitchell74]

I'm finding my British rolling stock (Graham Farish and Peco) uncoupling and derailing at an alarming rate compared to my North American stock on the same track. The locos are fine (GraFar and Union Mills - although the UM seems herky-jerky with starts and stops) but I'm finding it distressing at how often the wagons come uncoupled. I can literally run my NA stock for 30-60 minutes straight without incident, but not so far with my British stock. Any thoughts/suggestions? One thing I'm leaning towards is the weights. British stock is super light. I wonder if that has something to do with the derailing? The uncoupling is another story and I don't know what to think about that yet.

[Bealman]

Yeah... the BR stock is super-light, and of course much shorter wheelbase and no bogies. Having seen videos of your layout that you have posted, I'm wondering if the wagons don't like your curves when in a longish formation. How many wagons in the train when the problems occur? I was wondering if a train of just three or four also suffers the same trouble?

George

[ffdockree]

You are not alone, british prototype stock is quite a bit different from what I am used to. I've noticed that two axle freight wagons are outstanding at showing me any bumps and flaws in my trackwork. They don't have the three point suspension effect that bogie wagons do.

Have you used an nmra gauge to check the wheel spacing? I think it matters most if you are running on american track like Atlas.

The majority of my stock has the older spring loaded type rapidos, and I've found that it doesn't take much for them to twist slightly in the coupler pocket.......misalign....uncouple.

Hope this helps.

[Newportnobby]

Hi Scott,
There has been much discussion about this phenomenon in various threads. Here's just one of them.................

http://www.ngaugeforum.co.uk/SMFN/index.php?topic=18654.0

If you hit the 'Search' button on the top toolbar and type in 'random uncoupling' you'll find more

[scottmitchell74]

Yeah... the BR stock is super-light, and of course much shorter wheelbase and no bogies. Having seen videos of your layout that you have posted, I'm wondering if the wagons don't like your curves when in a longish formation. How many wagons in the train when the problems occur? I was wondering if a train of just three or four also suffers the same trouble?

George

5 wagons and a brake.

Thanks for your responses, all.