This section has ran well for 5 years and boom it short circuited. With the Positive removed ,the other 15 segments are ok. As soon as it is put back in, I have continuity between Pos. and Neg. everywhere. Removing both leads has no effect. Got to be in the track or switches. Suggestions needed, answers appreciated beyound belief. There are 4 switches in the section, been working well.
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Your layout looks great and that is a frustrating situation to have. Perhaps you could try vacuuming the track and switches as you reinfect the tracks. Did anything get disturbed underneath the layout?
Nothing visible, i am going to vacuum. Good on underside. Thank you for the compliment
I'm sure the problem involves one of the three turnouts. They are known to short out. Isolate (separate) the track from the turnouts and do a good continuity test on the three turnouts. Pretty sure you will find one out of spec.
O no! Go to find the wires in the ballest, un hook them, try to keep them above board, and hope it's the easiest to remove. Thank you for the information
Great looking layout…….
For what it’s worth, run a magnet over the section. I’m always pulling up stuff which I’m amazed I didn’t see….
Peter
I had a similar situation with a Gargraves switch. The underside of the switch was shorting out when and engine ran over it eventually becoming more pronounced. Since you have had flawless operations for a time, I suspect that is where you will find the issue. It doesn't look like your track is ballasted and glued down but if it is, Gargraves makes some pieces that will help avoid ungluing and removing large sections of track. If this is an issue, send me an email to my email address on my profile page and I will detail out the directions since I have done it before because of the same problem. Bill