Short occurs in turnout track

[kevincasey]

when my loco crosses over the "frog" in the turnout track, sometimes in stops and needs a little push to get going again - the wheel of the loco must be "pushing" off the track, I guess - is there a solution to this without having to "nudge: the train to get going again?

[Kemptown Branch]

I have had this problem with my turnout before. If the wheel is pushing off of the track, it's not a short. What I did was look along the turnout as closely to my eyes as I could without losing focus on it and pushed a piece of rolling stock over it. My problem was a bit of excess plastic from the track ties. If it's the same problem for you, a hobby knife should clean out the excess plastic just fine.

[kevincasey]

you mentioned "rolling stock" - this occurs with my locos - did that occur only with your "rolling stock", or also with your locos - in any event, I am going to check out my track based upon your comments... thanks, hope it works

[Fish]

What make of turnouts are you using?  I've had this problem with several Atlas turnouts.  The problem is there is a dead spot.  I used a pen type current tester and found on some turnouts current was not flowing in a portion of the turnout.  Depending on the spacing of loco wheels and contacts, certain locos stop at that track connection.  A slight "nudge" got things moving again once wheel contacts hit the rail with current. Check the current in the track where the locos stop.

[James in FL]

I do believe that @Fish meant to use the word voltage where he inadvertently uses the word current.
Use a multimeter and check for voltage.

Good luck

[Kemptown Branch]

Yeah, it happened with my locomotives, too. It took me a long time to figure out what the problem was, too.

[kevincasey]

I'm using the Bachmann EZ track turnouts - I'm still having that problem with a "short" - I realize that it is really not a "short", but rather the loco's wheel slightly lifting off the track based upon comments of "TrainMan2001"- there doesn't seem to be any excess plastic on the turnout track that stops the locos, but I'm still looking - I have powered the "frog" on the remote by connecting the 2 wires together that are found on the bottom of the turnout track, but that doesn't help - I will  test the voltage of the turnout - thanks for all the comments

[James in FL]

@kevincasey

Get a straight edge and run it all over the turnout both top to bottom and from side to side, including over the frog both ways.
A flashlight might help.
If you see light between the straight edge and the rails, you will find the problem.
Tell us what you find.

Good luck

[kevincasey]

will try the "flashlight/straight edge" process today, see if I can detect it  - currently, my "work around" is to run the locos slightly faster through the turnouts - I'm using a NCE Power Cab, and as I go around the track, I decrease the speed by "1" as I approach the turnout in question (I decrease it by "1" for each lap around the track after a successful
pass thru the turnout) until the locos stop - I inspect the track where the locos stop, but still can find anything out of the ordinary - I just think each loco should go through each turnout despite it's speed, even if it the speed of "1"

thanks for your input

[kewatin]

 kevin perhaps you should invest in an NMRA track gauge so you can check your wheels to see if they are in proper gauge, quite often you will find that the loco or rolling stock wheels are out of gauge and adjustment.kato has a neat little re-railer track that encompasses track gauge &spacing as well as wheel set .it is kato part #24000.very cheap & easy to use.all the other info above is also a good starting point.myself i use kato track and most of my locos are bachmann,and i too use nce power cab.i have had to adjust some of my engine ;s drive wheels etc as the odd one would like to climb the switch frog. not hard to do using a pin vise or small c clamps.trust you wil be able to sort out your problem.
regards&later KEWATIN           














                             

[kevincasey]

hey, thanks for your input, good to know these things - I will check into that Kato gauge & spacing tool - 2 things, though - I too am a big fan of the Bachmann locos and rolling stock - I like their blackened metal wheels, couplers, etc - but my locos are less than a year old - they're basically brand new - how can a wheel(s) be "out of line" so soon? - and a second thing, the locos don't "hesitate" or "short" going thru all turnouts on my layout - if the wheel(s) were "out of line", wouldn't it "hesitate" going thru all turnouts?  - I got the Bachmann CSX (Econami DCC Sound Value) GE Dash 8-40CW diesel - it's great, and for the most part, it handles the entire layout just perfectly - my other 2 Bachmann locos (DCC Sound Value & a DCC) handle the entire layout (4' x 8', N scale), but sometimes I run them a little faster thru the turnouts so they don't "hesitate"  - I have the Bachmann EZ track system, and it's just great - this is my 2nd layout

[bigal232baja]

Your running the power cab is that dcc? If so the wires on the switch they recommend not screwing them together under the switch. How you like the power cab thinking of getting one?

[kevincasey]

it is a DCC Power Cab - I will unscrew the wires (it was only on one switch) and it didn't really solve my problem anyway -  there's no consistency for when it fails (shorts) - sometimes there is a slight derailment of the front, right hand wheel in the front truck - the front truck (like the back) has 6 wheels, 2 on each side, with a front pair, a middle pair, and a back pair - sometimes that front, right hand side wheel is off the rail - it goes undetected by me, and than fails at the turnout - anyway, the Power Cab is great, but it's got a damn mind of it's own - I really had to be got to be patient with it - being retired going on 12 years now after working in the accounting field for 30 years, I'm sort of a computer dinasuor, and I even know less about the voltage that needs to be supplied to the track - that's why I use Bachmann EZ track - it's quite easy to use  -  the issue I have with the Power Cab is initially, for speed, it gave my even increments of 4 for the "inc fast/dec fast" speed buttons, then "increase/decrease" of 1 each time you hit it for the other 2 buttons - I got 3 locos running, and they all give me that 1 "incr/decr", then 4 "incr/decr", with a maximum of 28 - then out of the blue, and with me giving no further input, the locos starting running even increments of 10, with a maximum of 126 - I preferred this, but the damn Cab goes back to "1 and 4", with a max of "28" on it's own - it has gone back and forth a few times now, and it's easy to get use to, but I prefer to stay at the "10, max 126" specs - it's got nothing to do with that speed wheel either, it has the same max limits for speed

[fmfls]

Did you ever get this resolved?  Sounds like I have the exact problem.  Brand new track and brand new switches.  I have to nudge the loco to get through the switch.  I followed Bachmann's directions to wire for a "live frog"  that did not seem to do it.  Tried different locos same issue on same switch.  Researching this it looks like a lot of people have experienced this problem for a long time and yet the problem continues.  It just don't seem right to have to do all this trouble shooting on a $40 switch that should work as expected right out of the package.  Not what I was expecting when I bought new.  Anyone have some simple suggestions?

[kevincasey]

nice to hear I'm not the only one with this problem - the issue, as best as I can understand it, is that it is not a 'short' but the loco's wheel lifting up slightly off the track at the switches (turnouts) - this problem was never fully resolved for me - my "work a rounds" have been to run the locos slightly faster than I would like to - also, some times, the engine starts to run again - this happened when I waited a moment or two (because I was distracted, not part of the plan) and all of sudden the loco started rolling again - that does not happen all the time, though - my best bet has been to run them slightly faster - there have been people helping with their posts, though, and that really helps - it's a great hobby