Do your trains reverse?

My subway does an out and back route.  It reverses fine even through switches since it's a one level layout.

I don't back up trains that often but don't recall any problems, except with Thomas the Tank engine's cars: those seem to sometimes derail going backwards.  I think it is the fixed (non-swiveling) axles.  I have had no problems otherwise, but then I don't use Realtrack - I have Atlas track but have grafted in Fastrack switches in the places I need turnouts, etc.

This is one of the problems of O-gauge, that we don't have stringent wheel and gauge standards as in mainstream HO. Postwar and especially prewar O-gauge is especially loose with standards. And then there were those fat-wheel locos that needed special switches which weren't compatible with other equipment. We still have a lot of the toy-train heritage in 3-rail with the big wheel flanges and huge couplers. I accept it for my mostly vintage O-gauge equipment, but it causes incompatibilities for scale operators and it seriously segments the entire O-gauge/O-scale hobby.

 

The extreme curvature of tinplate-style switches create additional problems. I used pieces of tubing or drinking straws on the axles of prewar cars to help maintain better wheel gauge and enable them to negotiate switches more reliably. The tradeoff with the old toy-train heritage is that most 3-rail equipment can take relatively sharp curves.

 

I don't do much backing-up with my mostly old O-gauge trains because I do mainline running. I often lock out the E-units. AC track power and E-units for sequencing reverse are another anachronism from the toy-train heritage.

cngw,

   I have no problem backing up with my trains, because of the old Lionel 711 and 072

swithces accommodating all my different O Gauge trains correctly including the Tin Plate. I transition in and out of the old switches from FasTrack using a lighted lock on at each switch.  The P2 slow speed allows exacting control while backing up the trains.  Its not so much the trains but the track and switch engineering that I found

to be the real problem.  Once I decided to face the real problem with the track and switches, engineering became a lot easier.   The only switches that accommodate all my different trains running in either direction are the old Lionel 711's or the 072's, combined with FasTrack.    The new K-Line 072 type switches will work also, and they take a lot less power.   My next experimental engineering will be with Ross switches, I am hoping I can get them to accommodate my Tin Plate O guage, in both directions without derailing rolling stock or engines.  Looking at the height of the track gives me some concern however.

PCRR/Dave

 

 

I avoid backing up trains, and also avoid switches. To me, switches are nothing but trouble. A derailment just waiting to happen. 

I've never had an issue backing trains through any of the fastrack switches on my layout.

I use fastrack and o36 manual switches. I frequently back up my trains and rarely have derailments. Occasionally a lightweight car sandwiched between two heavy cars will get squeezed off. More weight and careful backing always fixes the problem.

I have no trouble backing through curves, "S" curves, switches, uphill, downhill, whatever, etc.  The secret is, I use all Gargraves Track, properly weight all my rolling stock to NMRA standards, back slowly just like a real train, and keep the wheels clean.  Wheels get gunk in the area between the rolling surface and the flange which allows them to climb a curve and derail.

.....

Dennis

 

I run postwar, mostly with shoes, and I’ve had the same sporadic problems. The nicer stuff I won’t run across switches because ripping a shoe off after 100 good passes still isn’t an option for me. I’ve had the best luck with Lionel’s 022's if the cars can handle the turn radius. If I need something larger, I use Gargraves 42 & 72 radius because I have had good luck with them with only minor alterations. That’s just with postwar; I don’t run modern era.

 

Dan

This mod will make sure that the wheels will go to appropriate side of the frog.

I also find that wheels will spark going through a switch, so this needs attention as well.

The worst case of wheels shorting in the switch will cause internal damage, and here's the fix for that.

I have to say, I agree w/ Jumijo on his point. I had twenty 0-72 Lionel switches on the layout. Two locomotives, a scale Lionel Dreyfus Hudson and a Williams Challanger, were particularly fussy over switches, usually de-railing, esp. if backed into them. However, sooner or later, everything had trouble traversing those switches. That is why they are gone - and good riddance, from my perspective (!). Now, only one mainline has just two switches included, and those are Ross switches, which lead into a service yard and were positioned to be approached straight-on w/out requiring movement into the curved part when operating trains outside and passing by the yard.

 

So, yes, for me, from my limited perspective, switches are trouble, and I avoid having them, though I am glad for folks who have no troubles with them, of course.

 

Nor I.  I run all postwar locomotives with a mix of postwar and modern cars.  No problems, either forward or backward

I use a combination of Modern Era O-22's and Early Lionel, LLC Era O-31's.  All of my trains run forwards and backwards through them.  My only issue is with the rubber diaphragms on my K-Line passengers cars.  They are a one-direction affair.

 

Jon