Unfortunately, no discussion on these lines (!) can ever be 'definitive', because so much of what is said is based on age-old entrenched beliefs and personal opinions rather than clear, measurable facts.
A good example of this is the constant jibing about German/British quality, which I do not want to progress any further. I'll just say that I have a lot of experience with both (and many others besides), and until quite recently, almost anything not of German or Japanese origin was unmistakably inferior in almost every respect. I would add that I HAVE had the odd duff German item too, but those have been very few by comparison. Hopefully, quality improvements will continue, though it needs to be said that that is not much help to people who have already made their investments! Enough of that.
QUOTE . . . The answer was to not run the loco across that part of the layout.
It might have been AN answer but not THE answer. It's clear that there was a problem with that part of the layout, equally obviously track related, and THE proper answer would have been to investigate and fix the problem at source, rather than running away from it. How many bits of track does one designate a No-Go area, before deciding to identify and fix the REAL problem, the root cause?
But that anecdote is a useful pointer towards the most usual reason for derailments being track that is faulty in one or more of several ways. It could be poorly designed in the first place, badly manufactured in the second, damaged at some point in time thereafter, incompetently laid or, more than likely, some nasty and hard to identify combination of SEVERAL of those factors and perhaps ALL of them! While one factor alone MIGHT result in a derailment, it is more likely to be an accumulation of several small faults which, combined together, eventually produce a crash.
While track problems are the most probable causes for derailments, all of those track factors are very often also combined with a lot of additional factors in the vehicles running upon it. The same factors noted against the track can also be pointed at the vehicle running upon the track plus some extra ones too. Unfortunately, at this point, there are so many accumulated variables involved in the combination of these that it can be extremely difficult, close to impossible in some cases, to pin down the exact causeS for the derailment - another good reason why a discussion just cannot be 'definitive'. I haven't mentioned idiots driving their trains like maniac racing car drivers, but that is a common factor too!
I laughed out loud at the suggestion that any difference in 'scale speed' between OO and HO had anything useful to contribute! As if the average home train player, whom Gary seems to feel he represents, would have the slightest idea as to what scale speeds either actually are or what they should be, in either scale, let alone possess either the ability or the inclination to drive carefully in accordance with them! Oh, I needed a good laugh today!
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It is my personal opinion that most (but NOT all) derailments are primarily track related, but these are exacerbated by locomotives and other rolling stock, each of which can have a myriad additional tiny faults, that contribute to one particular vehicle derailing more than others on the same track.
A good example of this is the constant jibing about German/British quality, which I do not want to progress any further. I'll just say that I have a lot of experience with both (and many others besides), and until quite recently, almost anything not of German or Japanese origin was unmistakably inferior in almost every respect. I would add that I HAVE had the odd duff German item too, but those have been very few by comparison. Hopefully, quality improvements will continue, though it needs to be said that that is not much help to people who have already made their investments! Enough of that.
QUOTE . . . The answer was to not run the loco across that part of the layout.
It might have been AN answer but not THE answer. It's clear that there was a problem with that part of the layout, equally obviously track related, and THE proper answer would have been to investigate and fix the problem at source, rather than running away from it. How many bits of track does one designate a No-Go area, before deciding to identify and fix the REAL problem, the root cause?
But that anecdote is a useful pointer towards the most usual reason for derailments being track that is faulty in one or more of several ways. It could be poorly designed in the first place, badly manufactured in the second, damaged at some point in time thereafter, incompetently laid or, more than likely, some nasty and hard to identify combination of SEVERAL of those factors and perhaps ALL of them! While one factor alone MIGHT result in a derailment, it is more likely to be an accumulation of several small faults which, combined together, eventually produce a crash.
While track problems are the most probable causes for derailments, all of those track factors are very often also combined with a lot of additional factors in the vehicles running upon it. The same factors noted against the track can also be pointed at the vehicle running upon the track plus some extra ones too. Unfortunately, at this point, there are so many accumulated variables involved in the combination of these that it can be extremely difficult, close to impossible in some cases, to pin down the exact causeS for the derailment - another good reason why a discussion just cannot be 'definitive'. I haven't mentioned idiots driving their trains like maniac racing car drivers, but that is a common factor too!
I laughed out loud at the suggestion that any difference in 'scale speed' between OO and HO had anything useful to contribute! As if the average home train player, whom Gary seems to feel he represents, would have the slightest idea as to what scale speeds either actually are or what they should be, in either scale, let alone possess either the ability or the inclination to drive carefully in accordance with them! Oh, I needed a good laugh today!
It is my personal opinion that most (but NOT all) derailments are primarily track related, but these are exacerbated by locomotives and other rolling stock, each of which can have a myriad additional tiny faults, that contribute to one particular vehicle derailing more than others on the same track.
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