Con-Cor Passenger Cars Diverging at Turnouts


S

Sundance71

New Member
I recently purchased n scale passenger cars from Con-Cor. A couple of the cars "diverge" when going through a turnout. The front truck goes straight through, but the rear truck takes the turn. It doesn't happen at every turnout every time, but pretty often at a couple of the turnouts. They have Micro Trains MT 1017 and MT 1018 trucks with couplers.

The trucks on the car were pretty loose when I got them, so I tightened the trucks, but that hasn't solved the problem. I next thought I'd add some weight to the cars because they felt really lightweight. That didn't help.

I have a consist of Kato passenger cars and the track just fine through all turnouts. The Con-Cor cars weigh 1.5 oz. while the Kato cars weigh in at 1.4 oz. Could the problem be the MTL trucks? Can I switch them out for Kato trucks?
 
With the Kato consist running good as it does, that would seem to point more to the Con-Cor cars to scrutinize, wheels/trucks to start with, but, one could certainly not rule out the switches (trackwork) as the issue. They could have a geometry that Kato consist rolls thru, but the Con-Cor cars just don't like them.

And welcome to the forum if I haven't done so before.......👍
 
You’ve likely done this already but check the wheels are in gauge and that the trucks are just lightly snug but able to move freely.
Its been years since I had N scale but I had similar issues with mine.
Oh, also make sure the couplers can swing and spring back in place with no catching.
 
Rico said:
You’ve likely done this already but check the wheels are in gauge and that the trucks are just lightly snug but able to move freely.
Its been years since I had N scale but I had similar issues with mine.
Oh, also make sure the couplers can swing and spring back in place with no catching.
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Thanks for the responses Jerry and Rico!
I've run the Con-Cor cars through additional parts of my layout and their cars diverge at almost all of my turnouts, almost all of the time. I am completely bewildered.
All of the wheels are properly spaced. I'll continue to play with the tightness of the trucks. They were really loose when I first got the cars, and I have tightened them some, but maybe a little tighter?
Does anyone have a way to contact Con-Cor? There is no telephone number, nor email listed on their website.
 
What happens if you turn the cars around so the derailing trucks are now at the rear? If the cars continue to derail with the lead truck forward, this will take further analysis. If the now-trailing trucks derail, then the problem is with that end of the car. Let us know...
 
Sundance71 said:
I've run the Con-Cor cars through additional parts of my layout and their cars diverge at almost all of my turnouts, almost all of the time. I am completely bewildered.
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Sounds like its the cars. As Trailrider said reverse the ends and see what happens?

You might also take a piece of track with that same sort of radius of the switch and look closely at how close any of the truck wheels come to portions of the car underframe or boarding ladders when trying to negotiate those rurns. Even very close interference can cause problems.

One other possibility is to shim up the guard rail across from the frog to keeping the lead car truck from 'picking the frog'
 
trailrider said:
What happens if you turn the cars around so the derailing trucks are now at the rear? If the cars continue to derail with the lead truck forward, this will take further analysis. If the now-trailing trucks derail, then the problem is with that end of the car. Let us know...
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The cars diverge when turned either way. Most often the rear truck stays off track.
 
beiland said:
Sounds like its the cars. As Trailrider said reverse the ends and see what happens?

You might also take a piece of track with that same sort of radius of the switch and look closely at how close any of the truck wheels come to portions of the car underframe or boarding ladders when trying to negotiate those rurns. Even very close interference can cause problems.

One other possibility is to shim up the guard rail across from the frog to keeping the lead car truck from 'picking the frog'
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I don't understand "shim up the guard rail across from the frog."
 
What brand of turnouts are you using? Until recently, Peko HO scale turnouts were really NOT HO gage, but British OO. The distance between the frog and the guard rails opposite the frogs is a bit too wide, which will sometimes cause the wheels to pick the point of the frog. The solution to that problem is to place a .010" shim on the side of the guard rail that faces the stock rail, thereby pulling the wheels away from the frog point. OTOH, most other brands of HO turnouts don't have that problem.

Another possible cure might be to shim the truck pivot screw so there is more room between the top of the truck and the bottom of the car so that the trucks and the coupler draft gear don't rub on the bottom of the car. The other thing to check is if something like a brake shoe isn't catching on the stair or skirts someplace.
 
trailrider said:
What brand of turnouts are you using? Until recently, Peko HO scale turnouts were really NOT HO gage, but British OO. The distance between the frog and the guard rails opposite the frogs is a bit too wide, which will sometimes cause the wheels to pick the point of the frog. The solution to that problem is to place a .010" shim on the side of the guard rail that faces the stock rail, thereby pulling the wheels away from the frog point. OTOH, most other brands of HO turnouts don't have that problem.

Another possible cure might be to shim the truck pivot screw so there is more room between the top of the truck and the bottom of the car so that the trucks and the coupler draft gear don't rub on the bottom of the car. The other thing to check is if something like a brake shoe isn't catching on the stair or skirts someplace.
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I have an n scale layout using Bachman EZ Track.
 
I think they are no longer in business.

On the other hand just look at this problem as challenge,...and a learning process. You will eventually run into a goodly number of related problems that will need diagnosis.

I have a WHOLE LOT of Peco turnouts on my new HO layout,...and I have had my share of derail problems,...but I try to tackle them one by one as they show up. Plus be sure to look up ahead of any turn out problem for some small track problem that just might be causing the problem at the down rail location.
 
Do your trucks look like this (Talgo style),
streamlined_passenger_trucks_pkg2_920-6050_big.jpg


or do the couplers attach to the frame of the care itself
 
Greg@mnrr said:
Try this.....aren't they out of business?

con-cor.com

Greg
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beiland said:
I think they are no longer in business.

On the other hand just look at this problem as challenge,...and a learning process. You will eventually run into a goodly number of related problems that will need diagnosis.

I have a WHOLE LOT of Peco turnouts on my new HO layout,...and I have had my share of derail problems,...but I try to tackle them one by one as they show up. Plus be sure to look up ahead of any turn out problem for some small track problem that just might be causing the problem at the down rail location.
Click to expand...
I purchased the five cars directly from their web site. I looked - hard - at the website again and there is no contact information.
 
Sundance71 said:
The trucks are MT 1017 which I assume means Micro Trains. The have the (world's?) smallest screws attaching the coupler to the truck.
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The four passenger cars have the same rucks/couplers ... MT 1017. The dummy engine has 6-wheel trucks with no identification. The mounting screw is between two of the three wheel sets rather than at the middle wheel set.
 
I would suggest you google "talgo truck problems".,...that is likely the major cause of your problems
 
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