Kato chassis on Tomix turnout problem

[Jes]

Hi all,
Has anyone tried to run Kato 11-103 chassis-based loco's on Tomix tight radius (140mm) turnouts? I'm unable to get mine to reliably run on them, they usually stall somewhere halfway. Any thoughts on how to solve this problem? Putting some extra weight on the chassis does not help. I have a bunch of Tomix turnouts and I'd really like to use them for a new layout.

Thanks!

[Simon Andrews]

I haven,t seen the Tomix points , but have experienced a similar problem with Shinohara tight radius points which was down to the frog and check rail geomertry. I did find that the Bachmann Plymouth managed okay though.

Simon.

[Steve Bennett]

Not seen the points up close, but from photo's it looks like they have quite a long plastic section in the frog.
If the leading wheels are dipping down into the crossing, it would unbalance it and prevent contact through the trailing wheel on one side, so one side of the chassis would not get electrical contact.
Try adding weight above the trailing wheels to see if that helps.
hope that makes sense

[Jes]

That makes sense in a way, but that would mean that the loco always has to face the same direction when running over the turnout. Turning the loco would mean that it's even less balanced as the weight would push the wheels even deeper. Or am I seeing this the wrong way?

But perhaps I could glue thin pieces of styrene into the frogs which just touch the flanges? Would that work?

[Moronguhl]

I guess the thing would be to make sure that the centre of gravity is exactly in the middle of the chassis, would that be easier? I imagine this is a common problem as most Gnatterboxers use 4 wheel chassis so there might be a common solution?

[Steve Bennett]

That makes sense in a way, but that would mean that the loco always has to face the same direction when running over the turnout. Turning the loco would mean that it's even less balanced as the weight would push the wheels even deeper. Or am I seeing this the wrong way?

But perhaps I could glue thin pieces of styrene into the frogs which just touch the flanges? Would that work?

Sorry, I only meant that to put the weight on to test if that was the problem
If it is, then yes, building up inside the flangeways with strips of styrene should improve it.

[rue_d_etropal]

I have some Tomix track on the way from Japan, and I hope to be able to use the Kato chassis. Wondering if I might have to wire in a second pickup truck.
Also wondering what minimum radius the various bogied chassis would go round. Otherwise thee is always the Tomix Percy loco. Presumably this has slightly bigger wheels so does not fall into gap.

[rue_d_etropal]

just got hold of track, and been playing around. Unfortunately no power source, so just pushed Kato chassis through points. Doesn't seem to dip too much, but will have to test powered up. If I have a problem i will re-design mini layout without points.

[rue_d_etropal]

just got hold of a controller, old Faller so does not go very very slow, but slow enough for me. I had no problems crossing points. If I can get speed right down, then I might have a problem, Wonder if points have been improved. Frog might be plastic but there are metal stips on base so rims of wheels might make contact. Certainly a lot better running than on Peco N gauge Setrack.

[rue_d_etropal]

Started running Barbecue layout tonight. Points presented no problems. Only problem is making sure couplings are set right. For the moment happy to use standard N gauge, as they are more reliable for me.

[demaine22]

Just wondering if anyone else has had success in this area?

Although the KATO 103 tram chassis may still pose problems, would the 105 bogie chassis work as all 8 wheel power the motor?

[johna]

Old thread but wondering about the Tomix point issue. Are they causing problems at the frog still?

Johna

[rue_d_etropal]

as I said, I have had no problem. I got one of the bogie versions, which has all wheel pickups, but is still only 2 axle driven. This still goes round Tomix track, and should run even better than the non bogie version. Still need to design some locos to fit on it, but attention at the moment is on my WW1 1/35 scale project.

[bandmbill]

Check the pickups - a couple of mine were only picking up reliably on 3 out of 4 wheels - would stall at the same place every time - cleaned the pickups and added a bit more pressure by bending the pickup and all was fine!

[rue_d_etropal]

that's the problem I had with one of my Kato units. It was OK on a basic circular layout, but when I tried it on my new APA box layout with a figure of eight using the Kato double track tram junction, it did not like the changing curves. Took it apart and it ran well. Just had the layout out to test , and finish off and after track was cleaned of plaster and paint, then graphited it ran perfectly and left it running alone for over a hour without any stops or derailments.