If your wagons derail or jump while crossing points here’s one of the most common and easiest solutions.
This is a surprisingly common problem (I’ve touched on it before here) but this video from Blue Mountains Model Railway project describes one of easiest fixes for it.
Trains derailing and jerking around over points can be caused by many problems but if you are having problems with just wagons then it’s likely this quick and easy remedy will solve your problem and let your wagons run smoothly.
To summarise, the problem is down to the wheels being incorrectly spaced, even a few millimetres will cause problems.
Fixing it is just a matter of very gently moving the wheels on the axel until they’re the correct distance.
In the video, a screwdriver is used to check if the wheels are incorrectly spaced. This is okay but I prefer digital callipers which are more precise as described in the previous post on derailing rolling stock.
Check your wagons now and add a comment below if you find your wheels have the problem described here.
> A final, personal, note: I spend a huge amount of time testing, photographing, writing and researching techniques for these articles and pay for all the running costs of MRE out of my own pocket. If you found this article useful you can support me by making a donation on my fund-raising page. Thanks and happy modelling, Andy.
Andy is a lifelong modeler, writer, and founder of modelrailwayengineer.com. He has been building model railways, dioramas, and miniatures for over 20 years. His passion for model making and railways began when he was a child, building his first layout at the age of seven.
Andy’s particular passion is making scenery and structures in 4mm scale, which he sells commercially. He is particularly interested in modelling the railways of South West England during the late Victorian/early Edwardian era, although he also enjoys making sci-fi and fantasy figures and dioramas. His website has won several awards, and he is a member of MERG (Model Railway Electronics Group) and the 009 Society.
When not making models, Andy lives in Surrey with his wife and teenage son. Other interests include history, science fiction, photography, and programming. Read more about Andy.
I would love to know why I have problems with two locomotives that jump point and how to fix them!
Many thanks for your work.
The portion of the text that is lost may or may not have covered this point…
Too long a rake of wagons with insufficient weight being hauled through points across a curved section can derail and bring the lot over.
This can also happen along the curves if they’re too sharp.
I can’t show a graph here but if you imagine a rake of twenty wagons with a Guards brake van at the rear gets pulled by your 8 F ( example).
We know that as it moves forward just like the real thing, the guards van only goes moments after due to the inertia effect.
Add in the fact that the sideways pulling of the trucks across the curve…this can make the pull increase quite noticeable, and the tighter the curve and the lighter and longer the rake can cause a derailment especially if there are any pinches or warped sections of track…even only slight problems go to prove that one should place the greatest importance to track laying and being willing to adapt those plans you made if necessary.