Procedures and Reliability

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HO Mod SIG Reliability Overview

Operations authors state that good operations cannot occur without reliably operating layouts. Indeed, reliability can make or break ops. We have been struggling with reliability for a long time. Surprisingly (maybe not) most people feel that we are about as reliable as we can get, considering the circumstances or the constant need to setup/takedown, transport, and store the layout and the rolling stock, as well as the diversified crew that we have. Specific steps that we COULD take were generally felt unnecessary or unfeasible like a database of "approved" cars, a standards committee review, and special work parties to repair modules just for this purpose. The locomotive database was felt useful, but procedures need to be implemented so that it can be kept up to date and accessible.

Steps That We Can and Should Take

1. Expect each module owner to maintain his module(s) and correct any track deficiencies as needed.
2. Use the "red pins" to mark dead spots or track problems. This is our form of "bad order cards" so we need to be consistent and use these to identify specific problems. It is of little help to say that there are "problems" or tell someone that "there is a problem on his modules." Specificity is critical to getting repairs.
3. Understand our radii. The corners are about 34 and 36" and the wye curves were 29 inches. Those radii should be sufficiently broad for anything we might have so if there are problems, we'll have to look elsewhere.
4. Continue to evaluate the wye to see if it can be fixed even better (preventing shorts, uncouplings, and derailings) or just replaced with a new structure that meets our needs. Shorts here seem to have been eliminated. This is the most critical part of the layout and should be the infallible. Again given the circumstances listed above, can we ever expect perfection?
5. The "gaps" on some of the corner modules are known to be excessive. This is a long known problem and shows the difficulty mentioned above, specificity. We need to know exactly which joints have the bad gaps. It seems to depend on which modules are connected and cannot be pinpointed on "a" module. Sometime in the near future, these need to be documented and marked for repair. In the meantime, we made an "extended" jumper track (9 3/16") that can be used instead of the standard 9" joiners. Ask for it at the next show.

Other Reliability Issues

One of the first noticeable differences in DCC is the prevalence of short circuits or shorts. Actually the shorts were present with DC, but most of the time, all you saw were a few sparks. With DCC, there is a lot more amperage on the tracks and the equipment is designed to detect shorts and shut down in milliseconds. So it just seems like there are more shorts in DCC.

One of the biggest causes of car derailments is incorrect car weight. You should check and correct every car for ultimate reliability. This will make a huge difference.

To this day, there are a few places where trackwork causes derailments. Owners are encouraged to fix them. Track should be straight (horizontally and vertically), and in gauge. Especially watch out for HUMPS that occur most commonly at the ends where the jumper tracks are located. Humps cause uncoupling of longer cars. Some humps are the result of poor track laying. Other humps are the result of warping of the subroadbed which can be minimized by have the surface grain of plywood subroadbed parallel to the track.

After humps, turnouts cause the most problems. We have considerable discussion about turnouts. New ones are just not good enough out of the box and so they usually need tweaking. Please visit our discussion on turnouts in the Construction section.Turnout Tips

Mission Statement

Promote participation, sharing, railroad history, and the NMRA/4 Div.
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Help charities, community organizations, and other railroad groups.

NMRA on Reliability

NMRA Standards
Index of NMRA standards, specifications, and recommendations

Car Weight
Beginner's guide to car weight and link to NMRA standards

Knuckle Couplers
Beginner's guide to knuckle coupler use and installation

Track basics
Beginner's guide to trackwork

Last updated:

July 19, 2007