Piko Mogul Derailments over points

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electricity_bill

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Hello
I have bought a second hand Piko Mogul which is in excellent condition. However, I am having constant derailments with it mostly when running through points. I have checked and adjusted the gauge on all axles and it is fine but still derailing. It seems to be associated with the pony truck.
Any ideas?
Bill
 
Which make of points are you using, Bill?

Does it derail on the straight or curve, leading or trailing? - that's four questions O0 O0

I lied - five :P :P :P
 
Probably the power pickup skates causing trouble. Bend the outside of the two skates upwards a bit, should prevent them from getting stuck in the frog.
 
If it's just the pony truck check if it's sprung or not, if it's just bouncing around with no downward pressure it will be more likely to bounce off. If it is light you can either add a bit of weight, above the axle using washers or similar, or fit a soft spring that slides sideways if there's somewhere to fix it at one end only on the truck or chassis.
 
I have had no full derailment problems with my Piko Mogul but the pony truck does come off sometimes if the point is set the wrong way.

I also had the issue with the pickup skate getting stuck on LGB points.
 
Sitting in the waiting room gave me time to think.

In theory, we should not need spring pressure on the pony truck, you certainly don't get it in the smaller gauges, and I currently have two locos, 2-6-2 and 4-6-0 that don't have spring pressure.

Bill says he's checked the gauge, does that include the back-to-back measurement?

Otherwise, I did once have an issue with a floating pony truck - the track dipped at a certain point, and as the rear of the loco sank into the dip, the pony truck pawed the air, just at the start of a curve.

One of the best ways to diagnose, is to sit and watch the loco run slowly through the point, and gradually speed up each time until the derailment occurs.

Knowing precisely at what point on the track is the first part of diagnosis, then understanding what is happening is the second.

:D :D :D :D :D :D
 
:o Nobody has mentioned 'Check the Trackwork'.

Make sure there are no kinks, dips, twists, or crossfall on, and around, the points.
 
Good point Gavin. The frog unit sometimes ends up as the highest bit on a point as rubbish or ballast accumulate under it. This also leads to poor running as the wheels on the insulated frog are highest so reduce the likelihood of contact by other pick up points.
My Piko Kamel did not like the curved section of one of my R3;s until i re layed it.
 
Gavin Sowry said:
:o Nobody has mentioned 'Check the Trackwork'.

Make sure there are no kinks, dips, twists, or crossfall on, and around, the points.
Click to expand...

Would 'third' this.. Found the hard way!
Power-off, and a straight edge along the railhead. Then remember ever mm you see of gap needs multiplying by 22.5!
 
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