Since getting trains running on Hadarford I have had one or two problems with derailments and uncoupling. I have slowly been working through these problems.
Yesterday I fitted Greenwich couplings to the 5 Peco L&B carriages which have been giving me the most problems with uncoupling.
1st test train with all 5 carriages was almost successful, in that there is now no uncoupling, but they still keep derailing at one joint of the long lift-out bridge. There is no obvious reason for this, as the rails align perfectly, and the track gauge is correct.
I know they say you shouldn't use a spirit level on a boat, but having placed it on the lift-out bridge it had become obvious that the bridge should be lower on the right end due to the rise of the boat, but it is higher.
Not by much, but add this to the baseboard of the fiddleyard which does have a natural slope, there is peak at the bridge joint. Closer inspection has shown a gap has appeared between the baseboard and the timber frame of the fiddleyard. The 1st thing to do was to remove this gap.
I have added some screws to pull the baseboard back down onto the framework.
This of course means the bridge is higher than the fiddleyard baseboard.
However for some reason, which I cannot remember why I did it, I added a thin strip of wood to raise the bridge up to meet the baseboard which can be seen in this photo.
Removing this strip of wood has brought the bridge down to the same level as the baseboard.
New positioning piece added.
The track height on bridges needs adjusting a bit before I can run a test train.
Track height has been adjusted and a test rain ran for half an hour and no derailments. 😊
Keith.
