[Lord Castellan Creed]

I use hornby tack and engines at the moment and find that they stop and start on there own, normaly at points, I run the usind DDC and all the track is nailed down. Does any one else have this problem? And does any one know how to solve it?

The Heavy engines run better, and some times they all run perfectly.

 

[TonyDaly]

QUOTE (Lord Castellan Creed @ 24 Nov 2008, 17:00) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>I use hornby tack and engines at the moment and find that they stop and start on there own, normaly at points, I run the usind DDC and all the track is nailed down. Does any one else have this problem? And does any one know how to solve it?

The Heavy engines run better, and some times they all run perfectly.

Hello.
Hornby points have insulated frogs & this seems where you are having problems. Make sure that all track,wheels & pick up points on locomotives are clean. Also make sure that the track & points are level. If the track pins are pushed in to far this can cause the track & points to bend slightly.

If you find that you have most problems with short wheel based locomotives, then this would point to the Insulated frogs of the points.The only way to avoid this is to fit points which have electrofrogs like Peco Electrofrog Points.

I presume that what you mean by heavier engines is the longer locomotives. These have more pick ups from the track which would mean that they are not affected as much by the insulated frogs of the Hornby points.

If your locomotives are stopping & starting all over the track this would point to dirty track or wheels or decoder problems.

 

[Lord Castellan Creed]

The heavy engine is the hornby 0-6-0 Deisel shunter,

as for cleaning the track I use one of the rubber like cleaners, is there a better version of cleaning tracks, I have never cleaned the wheels of the trains and do not know how to,

on the points, we have found that some of the longer trains with the big wheels fall into the gap between points.

 

[upnick]

Hi,
I never nail track down only using pins inbetween sleeper for positioning track while the ballast is spread and pva glue applied once the glue has gone off usually left 24hrs i remove the pins sets rock hard.
As to cleaning wheels they do at times attract dirt ... one solution is a piece of kitchen with a small amount of meths placed across the track put one bogie of the loco on and gently run it two black mark will appear turn the tissue repeatedly until the wheels run clean leaving no mark then a dry kitchen roll to finish.
Your locos will run a lot better.

 

[Brian Considine]

QUOTE (Lord Castellan Creed @ 24 Nov 2008, 17:35) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>as for cleaning the track I use one of the rubber like cleaners, is there a better version of cleaning tracks,

The Peco track "cleaning" rubber leaves a rubbery residue behind it that needs to be cleaned off in turn !

If you need to use this type of cleaner use one made by either Fleischmann, Roco or Express Models - they are much softer & do not leave a residue.

Others favour various ways to clean their track - the important thing with DCC is the track, wheels & pickups must be clean.

If you have any rolling stock with plastic wheels replace the wheels with metal ones - you will get much smoother running & less build up of dirt.

IMHO don't even think about using the likes of WD40 (save that for the lawnmower) or electrolube.

Hope this helps.

 

[Lord Castellan Creed]

I will be replacing the wheels shortly
is there a motorised track cleaner available, as I can't reach te corners of my loft layout to clean the track,

 

[zmil]

Both Roco and Fleischmann do track cleaning wagons
and there are even some Fleischmann Loco's with track cleaning pads
I don't think they are as good as using a track rubber, but if you cant get to some spots it may be your only option

Regards Zmil

 

[upnick]

QUOTE (Lord Castellan Creed @ 25 Nov 2008, 08:28) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>I will be replacing the wheels shortly
is there a motorised track cleaner available, as I can't reach te corners of my loft layout to clean the track,

Tomix do a motorised cleaner but it will need conversion to DCC either hard wire or simpler a plug in 6 pin chip (digitrax DZ125IN) along with a board fitted with a 6 pin socket from Dapol to replace the factory fitted one.

 

[61215 billy carver]

hornby make a sping clip type thing for use on set track points [ insulated ] when using dcc , i ue electrofrogs so cant vouch for them but may be worth a try .billy

 

[Lord Castellan Creed]

I use the points clips, but they just make both tracks with power. Does anyone have a price of the motorised track cleaners?

 

[upnick]

The tomix track cleaner is around 35.00 the board for it 10 and the six pin chips around 16.50 if you look around better prices can be found especially on ebay from Japan for the cleaner on a seller such as plazajpan,

just noticed you are running OO the items i have told you about here are N gauge.

 

[Brian Considine]

QUOTE (upnick @ 25 Nov 2008, 09:42) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Tomix do a motorised cleaner but it will need conversion to DCC either hard wire or simpler a plug in 6 pin chip (digitrax DZ125IN) along with a board fitted with a 6 pin socket from Dapol to replace the factory fitted one.

I have the Lux versions - the motorised buffing pad one & the vacuum cleaner - both run on DCC without chipping - I just use them when required (very useful for under OHLE). Only problem with the Lux units is the price (we have sold quite a few though, even at around £250 the pair !).

 

[Brian Considine]

QUOTE (zmil @ 25 Nov 2008, 09:27) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>Both Roco and Fleischmann do track cleaning wagons
and there are even some Fleischmann Loco's with track cleaning pads
I don't think they are as good as using a track rubber, but if you cant get to some spots it may be your only option

Regards Zmil

IMHO forget the FLM track cleaning wagons & locos - they don't clean dirty track, they do help to keep clean track clean (as do the Gaugemaster/Noch pads that clip onto the axels).

The Roco Track cleaning wagon is better, but you really need to remove the springs if running it in a normal train otherwise it takes a lot of traction power to move it.

 

[Lord Castellan Creed]

I know Dapol are bringing out a motorised track cleaner, not sure on the price though.

 

[upnick]

A quick call to Dapol is usually the best way to get information on future releases and their prices the guy there is very helpful.

 

[baz]

Cmx make a cleaning car which looks good and can be got for £75 from DCC Supplies.
You can watch a video of it in use on youtube if you just type in CMX CLEAN MACHINE.

Hope this helps

 

[hoonsou]

The CMX is definitely the best in my opinion. You can use wet pads or dry fine paper, I always use the wet pads with a tank full of Shellite, which I believe is lighter fuel over there. There are no motors or decoders to go wrong, you just drag or push it around with a Loco' that's got a bit of grunt.

 

[Lord Castellan Creed]

I have an engine that can pull a rake of 20 wagons, should be fine for pulling the cleaner, I will have a look on the website about it

 

[Lord Castellan Creed]

I did some more on the track yesterday and cleaned the track using the rubber and then wipped the track clean with a cloth. Both my big trains ran perfectly. These are Windsow Castle and a Southeast rail-car.
Unfortunatly my small trains did not, I had a look at the wheels and found on two of them, a peice of rubber like substance in the middle wheels of a diesal and panier tank. When this was removed those two worked perfecty like the other two. Does any one know what this substance is?
Also my last two trains did not work, is there any way of cleaning the wheels with out the track rubber?

 

[Twiglet]

I've mentioned before that I have wired in a pair of gaugemaster electronic track cleaners. I know people have mixed view on these but find that they do help to break down the worst of the gunge on hard-to-reach sections of the layout.