Hornby Pendolino derailing

Thanks david - I just checked, and all looks ok on that score. The dummy power car is 15mm, the front of the power car is 16mm and the suspect rear is 15.5mm.

I did a load more tests - I think it is a jolt going up the incline when the whole 4 car train started the rise that caused a judder (when the DCC extra uphill power kicks in?), which in turn caused the wheel to derail under strain, and it only became painfully obvious later on the points at the top. I spent some more time smoothing the incline and that really did seem to help - by the end of the session the whole 4 car unit was roaring up and down at a very healthy speed with no problems. In the end, I figured much of my issues could be down to temporary track arrangements - not tacked, imprecise test inclines, too quick to full incline % etc etc.

Despite that, I'm still a little suspicious though - whenever there is a problem it is always that bogie that goes without fail. It seems to me that logically either this is because of weight and loads that this is the weakest link in all Pendolinos and therefore always the first bit to go under any strain, or there is something up with it. Has anyone else experienced the rear power car wheels being disproportionately prone to derailing?

I had a similar problem with HST Mk3s earlier today in fact - half an 8 coach rake left the track after derailing on a track join where I'd not put it back together properly (temporary track arrangement, not tacked down). At higher speeds little imperfections have more dramatic consequences... There was a pronounced 'click' as each coach passed over the join, and after a couple of loops at high speed, a coach in the middle of the train bounced, and that resulted in all the trailing coaches derailing too.

Another derailment problem with the same rake was caused by the hook-couplers between the end coach and power car getting tangled when going round bends. Happened to any coach in that last-but-one position in the train. The only solution was to take a hook off the coach and leave the one on the power car. Probably not much help with the Pendolino as it's a different coupling mechanism isn't it?

Just a thought if the problem reoccurs, see if it happens if you run the train in reverse. To be fair to the rear power car you'd have to turn the whole train around.

hi I am new here, but I also bought a Virgin pendilino, the wheels clip in to a piece of plastic, if you are very careful with a small screwdriver you can pop them back in to place

First check them all to see which set of wheels isnt running smooth, then (very gently) adjust

Regards Pluto

Signature to be added soon

Sorry I have just re read my post (new at this)

The pendolino has fixed wheels set on axles clipped into a plastic bogie, the end of each wheel has a cone that click fits into a recess on the bogie.

If you are heavy handed with them (or a child playing at Christmas) the wheel axle assembly can be forced up into the bogie dislodging it from its recess.

As I posted earlier the best way to reposition the wheel axle assembly is to carefully manipulate it with a small screwdriver until it clicks back into place.

Trust me, my daughter has dislodged three axles already (or was it me playing)

HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL

Pluto

I forgot to mention that if it is the drive or dummy car, care should be taken to ensure the contacts are not bent and are contacting the wheels

Ressurecting my old thread! A year on, and I still have some issues with the Pendolino. I think this time I've definitely found a "fault" - at least what's causing our latest derailments.

The problem happens when pushing all cars round a 2nd degree bend. Without fail, the power car derails at the train end round this bend. This time, no amount of track fiddling / tacking can make it better - only a third degree bend solves it, where the angle is less acute obviously.

After endless sessions, I finally located the problem. When pushing, the power car and adjacent carriage actually come into contact on this bend. As the carriage straightens out, the inter-carriage concertina thing (excuse the terminology!) juuuust scrapes the power car's inter-carriage concertina thing. It then more conclusively knocks the edge of the carriage itself, causing the wheels to derail.

I've had a look at the underside of the carriages, and the mechanisms aren't jamming - they seem to be working well. It's just that, when pushing, the two carriages are just physically too close by a millimetre or so. Does anyone know of any way of adjusting this gap? I'll be honest, I'm not brilliant with this sort of thing, if necessary I'd get it fixed by someone if it was a remotely tricky job, or else I'm sure I'd permanently wreck it!

Thanks in advance for any advice.