Trackwork wars, Part 7

 Most of my layout maintenance challenges have been electrical, not issues to do with trackwork, thus the long series of posts called “electrical wars” (to find those posts, use that term as the search term in the search box at right). But trackwork issues do arise, and this post addresses the latest one of those.

As it happened, this latest issue arose at the same switch (at the lead into all the industries at East Shumala on my layout) as the recent post in the “electrical wars” series. That post, with some views of the trackwork, can be seen here: https://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/2023/10/electrical-wars-part-21.html .  

The problem was derailments in the same area as the electrical glitch, so it required a separate investigation. I discovered that the crosswise level of the track had deteriorated, perhaps due to shrinkage or warping of the support materials underneath this area. But the job was to correct the track.

I used a tool I have shown before, a transparent plastic “plank” on trucks. It permits you to see what is happening underneath it in areas of derailments or other problems (see that post at: https://modelingthesp.blogspot.com/2019/11/trackwork-wars-part-4.html ). Here’s a photo of it in the affected area. A small level is resting on it.

Since the “plank” is kind of tippy, one needs to take care in making sure the vehicle is itself resting flat on the truck bolsters, so that the small level reflects the state of the track, not that of the plank. 

Right in the area shown above, the track into East Shumala was found to be tilted downward toward the camera, that is, the nearer rail was significantly lower than the far rail. You can see this in the level’s bubble below.

Having demonstrated the defect, the next step was to correct it. My experience has been that if you slice into the material under the track, it tends to raise the track. My preferred tool for this is a putty knife, as you see below, with the “digging” in progress. I insert the tool under the track and gently pry upwards. Then check the level and, if needed, pry a little more.

Here is the result. It only took a few tries at prying to achieve this, and rolling stock over this area did indeed perform dependably.

I dislike having to confront it, but there are now a couple or three areas on the layout where support underneath has shrunk or sagged or something, leading to track that has a dip in it, or is not crosswise level. I am quite sure I didn’t install it this way, and tracking problems over these sections have only emerged recently and had to be corrected. I’ve learned that I just have to keep after these kinds of things.

Tony Thompson