Bachmann Hall derailments

I have 2 Bachmann Halls (6969 Wraysbury Hall) and 7915 (Mere Hall) and they are fine running locos but they derail on a Peco long radius curved points when in the "switched" position with annoying regularity so much so that I have to route trains to go "straight" over the points when there is no problem. I have no problems with other Bachmann locos (I have more that 30 of these of various models).

What can cause this? Is there a fault in the manufacture of these Hall classes? I note that they are no longer on the Bachmann list and perhaps this problem is the reason why!

 

have you followed the loco over the point to see how it derails? As both could be at fault?

 

Bachmann tend to go for accuracy over practical because of this often tighter curves they just wont go around as there isnt enough flexibility.

The wheels themselves are on plastic axles, it is possible to slightly tweak (and I mean becareful, it's just a slight squeeze with the hands) the leading wheels a touch inwards on the forwards side, and trailing driving wheels a touch inwards on the backwards side to compensate. It will still work on straight track. Solves my problems a few times in the past. I have had a problem with all Kader made GW 460s (inc Mainline and Replica before them).. it's just about the loco's axle base.

Also some points can have a frog which isnt quite triangular at the join, or the check rail is too high/ not quite angular enough away from the tracks. A File will solve those problems.. or change the point for another one.

 

ive had this problem with my 4936, is it the bogie that's the offender ?, appeared the gauge on the lead wheelset was slightly out (on my version anyway) so solution was to force the offending wheel from the axle and reposition it correctly, 'mini Kinlet' has behaved herself ever since.

Curved point's and Hornby's in particular with some older models or those with tighter tolerences will throw the toys out the pram because the radius of the set route dips under the 2nd radius minimum recommended for a lot of stuff, best avoid curved points full stop if possible i'd say.

 

I used to have a problem with my newish Hornby 'Britannia' class 70052 'jumping' whenever it travelled over a set of curved points (probably because the inside is first radius). I cured it by bending the point blade out-of gauge, and it seems to have worked, although in consequence I cannot run any locomotives with tender/bogie over it in the opposite direction, as the bend has resulted in a small gap between the blade and the outside rail. As such, only my 'Terrier' is able to traverse it in that direction.

 

Thanks for some great advice from everyone. Regarding the bogies, it does seem to be the driving wheels which jump the curved points - but I shall do some more testing to establish for sure that it is the driving wheels and not the bogie.

Great forum. Just wish I had spotted it before. As a regular contributor to the mainline steam forum on National-Preservation, I do appreciate the value of "good" forums.

I have a number of issues but I will list them separately beginning with..............tender drive Hornby 70052 Firth of Tay!

 

Mine's one of Hornby's recent loco drive 'Brits'. It was also the driving wheel that 'jumped' here, too. I also had the tender-drive version of Hornby's 'Brit', John of Gaunt
with the pivoted trailing truck. I don't think that that had any problems, although the motor died and it currently resides in a landfill somewhere (it was got for much less than retail price at a catalogue store, and it had things missing from it anyway).

 

Oddly enough my latest Hornby Brit 70015 Apollo runs superbly over all points with not a hint of derailing. The issue with the tender drive Hornby Brit Firth of Tay is that it stalls on every point virtually despite have a connection between loco and tender that is supposed to stop this happening by providing power to the driving wheels. Very frustrating. Any ideas on how to cure this?

Had I known it was a tender drive loco, I would not have bothered buying it in the first place.

 

You may also need to check whether there is any 'gunk' on the driving wheels, which can affect electrical pickup. The old Ringfield motors are b**gers when they don't run smoothly!

 

Agreed but i usually find the Ringfields can be persuaded to function nearly as good as loco drive if given regular TLC, making sure all the cogs and gearing is well lubricated and ALL wheels are spotless (not just the powered ones, electrical pick up is the issue than traction), if you haven't one already a set of Peco Wheel Brush/Scraper would be a wise investment.

 

The new Hornby Bulleids fall fail into this category of the trailing truck and driving wheels coming off the track!! Could this be down to ballast?? Weight Ratio??