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I am trying to solve an engine stoppage occurring between back to back fastrac remote switches. This occurs just before the engine travels from one switch over to the next about six inches. Everything is still working on the track the engines just abruptly stop. I can sometimes get the track mobile to pass over this area but not always. I tried soldering jumpers between the 2 sections to no avail, I moved the legacy base to move the signal no luck. Track voltage is registering at 14.5 everywhere. All the switches are working correctly. Track is clean.  All Legacy Engines run correctly except for this track invisible barrier. They just shut down. Track power is not shut off. I can move the engine thru this area and the engine will start back up. Any ideas appreciated.

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I could make some guesses why the trains are stopping, and it's likely more than one issue.  Top suspects are folded tab electrical connections inside FasTrack switches not making good contact and track connecting pins loose inside the rails.  Sometimes checking for voltage with a meter won't reveal where the fault lies if there's a high resistance connection.  The high impedance of the meter won't load the circuit enough to drop the voltage like a motor or incandescent bulb does.

I suggest checking either with a 12V incandescent lighted test probe, like for auto electrical system testing or using a incandescent lighted car with a single pick-up roller to find the exact locations where the electrical faults lie.  Once you do that, there are lots of topics here on the forum detailing how to correct loose track pins and folded tab jumper connections inside FasTrack Switches.

Classic problem with back-to-back switches.  This is the reason that many new locomotives have more rollers, that helps eliminate dead spots.  For Ross or Gargraves switches, it's not unusual to have to add a relay to switch power to some dead rails based on the switch position to minimize dead spots.

Note that these two rails are dead rails.  However, for some switch types, it's possible to connect to these to a relay switch to power them selectively to minimize dead spots.

___deadrail

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