I have a post-war Lionel Berkshire engine that traverses the entire layout except when I cause a particular switch to go from straight to curve in order to have it go through an inside loop. As the engine arrives at the switch to go around the curve, the pilot wheels derail at the switch. I think the switch oscillates slightly. When I reset the engine and the switch is already in the curve position, the engine goes around the switch perfectly in the inside loop continuously, and when I set it to go straight as it comes around toward that switch, it passes through straight without any problem. However, when I decide to switch it again on the inside loop, it derails. I replaced the engine with a Lionel post-war diesel switcher and performed the same maneuver with no problem. Why does this Berkshire do what it does just at that switch? I was demonstrating my train to guests after our dinner yesterday when this phenomenon occurred repeatedly. Was it bad karma from one of our guests?
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GG-1fan,
Sounds like you have a bad piece of track going into your switch in the direction the Berk is having the derail problem, replace both track pieces coming in and out of the 022 and see what happens, also make sure the old 022 is screwed down correctly and not over stressed. You could also have a short in the switch, however if the different
smaller engines cross the 022 correctly, it usually means your Berk being bigger and heavier is drawing power from an un-insulated track when it should not, causing the 022 switch to activate.
PCRR/Dave
It sounds like the switch is not throwing the points over far enough and the pilot wheels are picking the points. Increase the voltage to the switch motor and/or perform maintenance to restore smooth, accurate, and complete operation.
GG-1fan,
Rob makes a good point, if you do not have the required power to activate the 022 switch fully what he says can happen, however the way I read your post, it seemed to indicate the switch was activating as the Berk passed thru the switch. If that is not then case, Rob's summation is right on the money.
PCRR/Dave
Thanks for all the advice. I tried boosting up the voltage on the switches as suggested by Rob and the problem resolved itself. It seems that even though I have 5 switches that function well at a lower voltage, the one that is a problem doesn't unless I rev up the voltage for all.
You may want to tear that difficult switch down and clean the contact points, then lightly oil. Dirty sliding contacts inside often the cause of needing higher voltage.
Bill
Sounds like you might want to give it a good cleaning as suggested, but how much more voltage is it wanting to see to throw right?.
I have the constant voltage all the up on my ZW for the switches.
Well, that's probably excessive! I'd stick with 15-16 volts, when you crank them up too high, the contacts start to get eroded.
I guess I'll have to take the switch apart or perhaps check the wiring connections to the buss line. Otherwise, I will have to keep the voltage cranked-up which, as gunrunner says, can cause problems.