Dear W,

Does your train run faster near the power pack connection?

While your train is running, please measure the track voltage near the power pack, then far away from the power pack.

More tests to follow.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik   

Dear All,

Every track powered electric train owner should have a test lamp made out of an 1156 automotive tail lamp (bulb) with one test lead (wire) soldered to the tip, and the other test lead soldered to the metal case of the bulb.

If you cut an "alligator clip style jumper lead" in half, you will have two test leads with an alligator clip on each end.  Very handy. 

This 1156 test lamp has 2 functions:

1.) It's a crude voltage indicator (brighter light = higher voltage),

and most importantly,

2.) It provides a stationary electrical "load" to "exercise" your power pack and track connections. 

Your moving load, is of course, your locomotive. 

If you clip the lamp leads to your volt-meter leads, you would get an "under load" voltage reading on your volt-meter, which is much more useful than a "no load" voltage reading while troubleshooting pesky track power problems. 

For example:

1.) Take all locos and cars off the track. 

2.) Split the first track-to-track connection just to the right of the power pack. (This assumes you have an oval track.) 

3.) Turn the power pack on and measure the voltage (test lamp clipped on to volt-meter leads) as close to the power pack output as possible. 

4.) Move the leads (left) down the track away from the power pack, measuring the voltage across the two rails at every track section. 

5.) Slightly move (flex) the rail connectors between the previous section and the one you are now measuring.  If the voltage drops considerably, or jumps all over the place, you have just flexed a bad connection.

6.) Repair the bad connections. (A gentle squeeze with a pair of pliers on a loose rail connector often works...Careful, don't smash the connector).

7.) Move down the line testing and repairing all bad connections.  When finished, re-connect your (split) oval. 

Voltmeter readings are nice, but using the brightness of the lamp as a crude voltage indicator is often good enough for troubleshooting track connections.   

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik     

Dear Billy,

By dumb luck it just so happens that putting seven 22"R curve sections between the divergent routes of L and R #5 turnouts makes a good "early cutoff" configuration. 

Terry Toenges has experimented and probably knows what track sections (and fitter track sections) go between the straight routes of the turnouts for the above "early cutoff".   

According to John Armstrong, the "radius of the closure rail" (RCR) of the #5 turnout is about 26".  The RCR is the smallest radius curve your rolling stock will see traversing a numbered turnout. 

The idea is to match the RCR to your layout's minimum radius.  22"R is close enough to the 26" RCR to not worry about it. 

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik   

Dear Bill,

Wonderful.  Must be fun to operate.   

What power/control system and sound system are you using?  How many feet of track?

Thanks.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

Dear Bird,

See this previous post on the same subject.

http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,7325.0.html

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

Dear All,

Although Bachmann tells you to use a HO 30 degree crossing to make an 18" Radius 30 Degree Figure 8, it really doesn't fit very well.  The crossing is somewhere between 11-7/8" and 12" long, but I figure (using geometry and trig) that it should be around 9-5/8" long to give a figure 8 that lies flat with no gaps.

Just in case HLR wants to re-design the 30 degree crossing for an 18" R figure 8 someday, (doubtful), here is the formula:

Length = 2R x tan(deg/2)

where R is the radius of the curved track sections, and deg is the # of degrees of the crossing.

= 2 x 18 in. x tan(30/2 degrees)

=36 in. x tan(15 degrees)

=36 in. x 0.26795

=9.646 in. or about 9-5/8"

Terry Toenges has used (with fitter straights) the 30 degree crossing in his layouts to allow a parallel siding (made with "remote switches") to cross itself, for example:

l  l /
l  l/
l /l
l/ l
l  l
l  l
l /
l/
l
l

so the 30 degree crossing may have been designed for that purpose. 

There is a chance that it was made about 12" long for no discernable reason, or because that was the length limit for the blister packaging machine.

If you want your 18"r-30 degree figure 8 to lie flatter, buy a package of four half straights (4-1/2" long, item #44514), and place one between the 3rd and 4th curves away from the crossing on all four legs.

That is the simplest fix (fewest pieces to buy), but there are more elegant ($) fixes.  I'll post them if anyone asks.   

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik.     

Dear Al,

Try using a "3 point" suspension on your rolling stock.  Adjust the screw holding the trucks to the bottom of your car so that one truck only swivels, and the other truck is loose enough to swivel and rock a little. 

Next, get a NMRA HO track gauge.  Check the gauge of your wheelsets, and check the gauges and clearences at the diamond of your crossing.

Hope this helps.

More to follow.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik
   

Dear md,

To make a circle or oval the formula is:

Twice radius plus one track bed width is less than or equal to table top width.

(2R+TBW)<=width.

Since HO track bed width is very close to 2", and your table top width is 2' or 24",

2R + 2" <= 24"

2R <=22"

R <= 11"

You could build that with flex track, but you could only run the smallest switching locos and rolling stock.

You could forget the oval and make a "switching puzzle" (railroad yard) layout, but the many turnouts are much more expensive than straight or curved track. 

You can build John Allen's "Timesaver" puzzle in Atlas snap track on an 8" x 72" (= 2/3 ft. x 6 ft., = 4 square feet) shelf.

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik 

DCC or DC?

How many people paying attention and controlling the throttle(s)?  0 (set and walk away), 1 or 2?

I have seen plans for a 3-rail "chase" oval that was fully automatic, using isolated outside rails for detection and relays controlling isolated inside rails for power. 

2-rail detection is much more complicated, but is doable.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

Edit: changed "HO" to "2-rail"

Dear Joe B.,

You have found the 4-6-0's weak spot, the front truck.   

If you still have the pieces, it is possible to repair your front truck with "Weld-On",  "thickened" variety.  You would have to make sure it slides freely in its slot when done.   

Otherwise, you would call "Irv" using the non-800 phone number and buy another front truck (if it's not covered under warranty).  He will have to match the color of your wheels.

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

Dear Karen,

$27 shipping included (both pieces) to USA lower 48.

joebarbATwwtDOTnet

Joe   

Dear Karen,

I assume that you are powering only the train, not other accessories besides, with your controller.   

I assume that your power pack is the 2 piece kind, wall-wart transformer plugged in to a speed/direction control box.

I'm guessing that there is a thermistor gone bad inside the controller box.  A thermistor does the job that circuit breakers use to do, that is, cut off the current in the case of a short or overload.  In this case the bad thermistor thinks that any normal or small current going through it is an overload. 

You could test this by connecting your lamp directly to the transformer output plug, one wire inside, the other wire outside the plug.  If it stays lit, your controller box is bad.   

Your controller may be under warranty, but if in the end you need buy a replacement, I have new ones to sell.

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik 

Edit: changed "transformer plug" to "transformer output plug"   

Dear WGL,

DCC track voltages shouldn't hurt you. 

An automotive tail light bulb with one wire soldered to the tip and the other to the metal base would work well as a test lamp.  (A tail lamp is a heavier load than a grain of wheat bulb, which is a better approximation of an engine under load.)

Touch one wire to one rail and the other wire to the other rail. 

Contact the "Happy Grandparents" train show people.  They should know some local train modelers that are skilled in troubleshooting track continuity problems and skilled in troubleshooting DCC.

You're welcome to call, I'm in the book.   

Hope this helps. 

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik   

Dear PJM,

It's possible that EZ-Track could survive a being stepped on by a light person with a soft soled shoe, but a sideways kick or tripping over the track would probably snap something off. 

Compare the costs of both methods (flex vs. EZ-Track) with the risk of damage in mind. 

Hope this helps.

FT2"S !

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

 

Dear PJM,

According to John Armstrong's "Track Planning for Realistic Operation" book,  a #5 turnout has a frog angle of 11.4 degrees.  Assuming that the divergent route continues straight off the frog, the departure angle of the divergent route would also be 11.4 degrees. 

This does not guarantee that Bachmann made their turnout precisely 11.4 degrees departure angle, and for unknown reasons, they won't tell us what it actually is.

Assume it's close enough to 12 degrees to work with the following pieces:

Add a 6 degree 33-1/4"R curve off the divergent route of each #5 turnout.  12 + 6 = 18 degrees, which matches your 26" radius curve pieces.  Add 9 more 26"R curves to each turnout to get a semi-circle on each side.

I calculate the gap between the semi-circles to be 7". 

Option 1: Fill that gap with one 3" plus two 2" straights.

Option 2: Widen that gap to 9" by placing a 2" straight between the single (or "points") ends of your turnouts, then use a regular 9" straight to fill it. 

Note that the 2" straights, critical to almost every EZ-Track configuration for gap filling, are only available in the new 90 degree crossing package.

Ask the Bach-Man to make these 2" straights available separately.

Hope this helps.

Free The 2" Straights !! (FT2"S !)

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik 

edit: change "Bachmann" to "Bach-Man"