Backing into turnouts?

Hi Eric, I too have Fastrack with 060 switches and use straight sections before and in the turnout itself.  I have never had a problem with any of my locomotives using this method in backing in.

TEX

Steve

S-curves are the bane of railroads, model and real. Our 3 rail equipment is much more forgiving of them than scale 2 rail trains are, but even for us there are limits, as you found out. Rather than have the turnout placed in the straightaway after the turn, you might consider using an O-48 turnout in the turn, with the diverging leg going straight into your yard. Anything you can do now to eliminate S-curves is something you will thank yourself for later.

I do this in my O-60 loop with good results.  The problem is that I'm trying to make a 2-switch "ladder" in my inner loop and I've run out of space.  I can't go any deeper into the loop and my sidings are dangerously short as it is.  I did manage to re-engineer it and I found an additional 10 inches of length for the inner loop which preserves my minimums with a little (and I mean little...) buffer.  I can't avoid the 'S' created by the first rung n the ladder.  The second rung is the one I'm using for the K4S and that seems to be OK.  My RK SD70ACE will take this 'S' on the first run in stride while pushing 5 RK well cars into the siding, so I can only hope my TBD RK Scale F-3 AA combo will be as forgiving.  

I use 3 O-27 profile Lionel switches (with 0-42 curves on my main level and 0-27 on my upper loop). 2 switches are on the main level and 1 on the upper level. I can run all of my engines that fit through them, front and back just fine except for the switch on my upper loop. Backing into it, which I don't do often, is hit or miss. Each engine behaves differently on that switch in reverse but my Railking Rugged Rails F3 picks the switch and derails no matter what in reverse regardless of speed. This is understandable due to the fact the switch is up against an 0-27 curve with no "buffer" section of straight track. Sorry to hear of the derailments with your (Imperial?) K4. Mine has been a great engine and hasn't derailed due to track problems except in the case of operator error!