05-26-2010, 12:17 AM
Check you car weights. I don't know the NMRA standard for N-scale, but in HO freight cars tend to be too light which will contribute to derailing. Also I went to a workshop on tuning up rolling stock over the weekend, and heard something I'd never heard of before. The man giving the work shop has been placed in charge of rolling stock inspections at a large club in Southern California, and the first thing he said is take the "three point suspension" system that we have all heard about and "throw it out the window" because it will guarantee derailment problems. After making sure that your wheels are in gauge and true, and the cars are weighted properly, you set the car on the track, and with one finger nail, you should be able to rock the car one scale foot without either truck lifting off the rails. If you can't rock the cars one scale foot without the wheels lifting off the track, the car will derail if the track work is not absolutely perfectly flat and level in all planes.