Loco stoping

[jjwdadof4]

My loco stops when I'm switching track what can I do for this not to happen?


Thanks
Josh

[William Brillinger]

Josh please give us a little more detail...

Your loco stops when on the turnout (switch) ?
Your loco stops anywhere at slow speed?
Your loco stops when you throw a turnout?

[jjwdadof4]

It stops when on a turnout switch and anywhere at a slow speed


Thanks
Josh

[William Brillinger]

It stops when on a turnout switch and anywhere at a slow speed

Sounds like the loco may have a pickup problem. The can be dirty track, dirty wheels, an unpowered frog, a broken wire, or a combination of all of these.

I suggest in this order:
- wipe down the track with dry cloth
- clean the loco wheels with isopropyl alcohol on a paper towel (wet a spot on the towel, place it on the track, put the loco on the track and run it on the paper towel one truck at a time to clean the wheels)
- apply a little bit of graphite to the rails to promote electrical pickup (a few swipes of a carpenters pencil near the affected area is enough)

If the problem persists, look for electrical problems in the loco and possibly consider powering your frogs or adding a keep alive to the loco.

What kind of turnouts are you using?

[jjwdadof4]

 Bill I'm using Atlas turnouts

Josh

[Tom]

I would like to jump on this thread with a related problem that is very perplexing.

I have one turnout with the frog powered by an AR-1.  One of five locomotives stops > 50% of the time in one direction on the turnout, but not the other.  The AR-1 light changes dutifully each time the direction is changed indicating it is working – I think.  This one locomotive does not stop anywhere else, including 3 Caboose 220S Sprung w/contacts, .165 ground throws.

Is there any possible explanation for this?

Tom

[G8B4Life]

Josh and Tom,

Does the HC give any warnings when your loco's stop? If it does that could be a good clue of where to look for the problem.


Josh,

Your issue does sound like dirty track or wheels, or even not enough power reaching the locomotive (under voltage). If cleaning the track and wheels doesn't work I'd suggest taking a multimeter (voltmeter) to the track in the trouble spots and see if the track voltage is too low.


Tom,

Your issue sounds like an intermittent fault (touching wire or similar) that might be caused by track geometry but it's hard to tell. I think the AR-1 setup is fine as you've reported that only one loco has a problem, not all of them.

When the loco runs through the turnout in the direction it does stop, does it stop only on the straight route, curved route or both?

If you turn the loco around to face the other way does it still stop or does it run through?

Where does it stop? as soon as the loco touches the frog? As it's going through the point blades?

If it is a track geometry problem (eg, the turnout might not be perfectly flat or has a twist) that could potentially cause something like a loose wire inside the loco to stop making contact as the truck twists/lifts/turns over the defect. You haven't mentioned a dead short so I'm guessing that a loose wire or the wheels are not touching something else live as the truck twists/lifts/turns over the defect.

I'd see (for both Josh and Tom) if the HC gives any error/clues as to whats happening. Set your locomotives moving as you'd normally do and watch the Info screen for the locomotive as the locomotive enters the trouble spot(s). You might get something.

- Tim

[jjwdadof4]

Josh and Tom,

Does the HC give any warnings when your loco's stop? If it does that could be a good clue of where to look for the problem.


Josh,

Your issue does sound like dirty track or wheels, or even not enough power reaching the locomotive (under voltage). If cleaning the track and wheels doesn't work I'd suggest taking a multimeter (voltmeter) to the track in the trouble spots and see if the track voltage is too low.


Tom,

Your issue sounds like an intermittent fault (touching wire or similar) that might be caused by track geometry but it's hard to tell. I think the AR-1 setup is fine as you've reported that only one loco has a problem, not all of them.

When the loco runs through the turnout in the direction it does stop, does it stop only on the straight route, curved route or both?

If you turn the loco around to face the other way does it still stop or does it run through?

Where does it stop? as soon as the loco touches the frog? As it's going through the point blades?

If it is a track geometry problem (eg, the turnout might not be perfectly flat or has a twist) that could potentially cause something like a loose wire inside the loco to stop making contact as the truck twists/lifts/turns over the defect. You haven't mentioned a dead short so I'm guessing that a loose wire or the wheels are not touching something else live as the truck twists/lifts/turns over the defect.

I'd see (for both Josh and Tom) if the HC gives any error/clues as to whats happening. Set your locomotives moving as you'd normally do and watch the Info screen for the locomotive as the locomotive enters the trouble spot(s). You might get something.

- Tim



Tim it was dirty track and yes I do get the low voltage icon how can I fix the low voltage problem?

Thanks
Josh

[jjwdadof4]

Whoops I didn't do that quote thing right Tim if you look in my last post I explained some more of my problems

[MtRR75]

There are two main reasons for locos stopping:  (1) A short, and (2) a loss of power to the loco.

There are two indicators to look at:  (1) the LED on the power supply, and (2) the hand-held controller (HC).  I don't recall exactly what message the HC gives, but it involves a red indicator on the screen. (My layout is down right now for a rebuild of my control panel.)

When the loco stops, the HC indicator will always be red.  If the power supply LED is also red, then you have a short.  If the power supply LED stays green, then you have a loss of power to the loco.

The most common reasons for a loss of power are (a) dirty track, (b) dirty pick-up wheels, (c) uneven track, causing a some pick-up wheels to lift off of the rail temporarily.  All of these are more common at turnouts because when one of the pick-up wheels goes over the plastic frog, you are temporarily relying on fewer pick-up wheels.

The most common reason for a short is that the loco wheels are momentarily touching BOTH rails at the frog.  The fastest way to diagnose if this is is the problem is to temporarily put a small piece of tape on the rail at the frog that the loco is NOT supposed to touch.

[G8B4Life]

Josh,

Without knowing how big your layout is and how it's wired I can only give a few generic answers.

If you don't have a power bus run under the layout:


• You can run a power bus with associated feeders to the track.
• If your rail joints are not soldered, you can solder them. This is probably the least desirable of the options if used by itself. Assuming nickle silver rail, while it's an ok conductor (not fantastic but ok) it's cross sectional area is not great (meaning it's the equivalent of small diameter wire). Without a power bus, on long runs of rail that rely solely on rail joiners to transfer power from one rail section to the next you may end up with considerable resistance that will cause voltage drop.

If you do have a power bus run under the layout:

• you can install more feeders to the track.
• The power bus may be inadequate in size and need to be beefed up.

- Tim

[jjwdadof4]

 Thank you Tim for the tips I do have a bar under the layout that has screws one wire in and one out on the other side my layout is 5x9 with I think 6 drops for power I will also try soldering the jointers

[William Brillinger]

I will also try soldering the jointers

Be careful with this as it can cause buckling in the rail as the metal and wood expand and contract at different rates.

As a rule of thumb, it is best to have a feeder to every piece of rail instead of soldering joints.

[jjwdadof4]

Be careful with this as it can cause buckling in the rail as the metal and wood expand and contract at different rates.

As a rule of thumb, it is best to have a feeder to every piece of rail instead of soldering joints.
[/quote]


Bill are you saying to add feeders at all the joint connections?

[drisdon]

I believe he is recommending, this is an unwritten model railroading recommended practice, to add a feeder wire to every piece of track on your layout.  For a turnout you need feeders on the stock rails and the closure rails, essentially once you add gaps around the frog you need a feeder on each piece of rail that joins the frog and then the two outer rails.  You can also add power to the frog thru the use of a Tortoise and other methods.

Dan Risdon