Thanks for your help guys.

I don't think there are any power pickups in the tenders. I am new at this as you can see from some of the dumb questions I ask but I would think that if the tenders were used to pickup current there would be some kind of electrical connection between the tenders and the Locomotive.

If I race the 4-4-0s at I speed through the turnouts, I can get through them without stalling. 

I have some crossovers which Backmann made it easy to change to powered frogs. I'll try that tomorrow. Wife said I have played with trains long enough today.

Mack to my original question - is there any disadvantage in powering the frogs. I see that some manufactures supply them that way - others don't.

Is there any disadvantage in powering frogs?

I have a 4-8-4 Northern which I got for Christmas and two American 4-4-0 which a friend of mine gave me and a Trix Diesel (Not sure what it is - Union Pacific) which another friend gave me ( I have some very generous friends).

The diesel goes through turnouts without any hesitation but the others don't. I know that the 4-4-0 have short wheel bases and that is why. Not sure why the 4-8-4 does it.

Does anyone have better instructions on powering the frogs? Having a hard time with the instructions that are on the back of the package. Took the back cover off of one turnout and the guts look different than the picture.

Oh yea - N Scale.

Thanks Dave!!!!!

Has anyone ever replaced the directional switches  (the ones that the green wire plugs into) that come with Bachmann turnouts? Does something like a DTDP switch work?

Thanks.

Another solution is to use an electronic cleaner. Got some at Autozone (CRS QD Electronic Cleaner) for cleaning contacts on an old car. Works great. Cleaned the contacts on an old locamotive that wouldn't run. It now runs. Radio Shack has the same type of product at twice the price!!!

I see from previous post that the subject crossover must be modified per David Harrison to work with DC. If I decide to switch to DCC later on, does modifying them for DC mess me up for DCC?

David - if you read this - I am a little confused on which wires to cut. Can you help?  I am getting old and sometimes don't understand what I am reading. These are expensive little babies and I would hate to mess them up!!!!!!

Anyone have a wild guess on how long it takes Bachmann's Service Dept. to repair a locomotive?

Sent one in and  just kind of wondering how long it normally takes.

I am a newbe at this but the "turnout" ( that's what the experts call a switch) replaces a 11.25 curve so that's what it is I guess. If you set the turnout on top of a 11.25 curve you can see what I mean.

Thanks for the link winjie. Do you think there is an advantage using them instead of the regular turnouts? I am finding that the standard EZ Track turnouts are a bear to work with - still having problems with derailing. Would you mind measuring them and tell me how long they are.

Thanks Barry but I should have said N Gauge. Questions in "General Discussion" seem to be seen by more people and answers are quicker.

Thanks for your help Gene.

Checking various places on the internet - the crossovers are about 2x the price of turnouts. Turnouts run from approx 11.00 to 15.00. Best I can find on crossovers is 41.50.

Since I am new to this hobby - need some help. Is using two EZ Track Crossovers (Left And Right) better than using 4 turnouts. Anybody know the length of these crossovers? They kind of look neat but pricy.

Thanks!

Quote from: Jake on December 31, 2007, 12:04:15 AM

Quote from: PRRThomas11 on December 30, 2007, 10:19:42 PM
You're welcome. I never realized you couldn't nail easy track down. It has a hole in the track, but not the gray roadbed thing. Weird.

Actually, the plastic piece in the hole is very thin and easily pierced with a nail or needle. Why hasn't anyone noticed that?

Because I am getting old - looked with a mag glass -SOG they are there!!!

Thank you. Appreciate the help.

PRRThomas - the track is the Bachman EZ Track - no where to nail them. Saw in the General Discussion forum where some glue them down. I am probably going to use foam (1") between the track and the table top so I guess that's the only way to do it.

Got a Empire Builder for Christmas. Looks like it could be lots of fun. Went a bought a couple of EZ track remote turnouts and more EZ track so I could do more than go around in a circle.

Here is the problem - the front wheels on the engine jump the track at the turnouts - not everytime. If you run just the engine and the tender it does ok but as you add cars - the more you add the sooner it jumps the track. I have made sure that the track rails are level. Is there some little trick that the "old pros" know!!!!!

When I build a layout - do I fasten the EZ track to the table and if I do - HOW???

Thank you.