Lionel Fastrack Switch Help/Advice Needed

I suspect this is one that someone would have to see to accurately diagnose what is happening.  It sounds like a mechanical issue, hard to diagnose in ASCII.

Sometimes these switches need slight adjustments to work correctly. I've had to open up a number of mine and make small adjustments in the switch throw mechanism to make it work smoothly. Can't tell you exactly what to adjust each one is different. sometimes it's tightening or loosing a screw or smoothing a plastic part to work correctly.

Gentlemen,

Thanks for your responses. I agree that the issue appears to be mechanical, and I am also aware that these switches often need adjustment to work correctly, and I also know that asking for help online is like asking a mechanic to diagnose a car problem over the phone - almost impossible to do. Again what I found strange was that two switches ended up having the exact same problem. Next time I am over at my son's house (the layout was a gift to my grandson for his 3rd birthday) I will spend more time tinkering with it. Wish me luck!

Yep, it would be nice to be able to pinpoint an issue for you, but that's nearly impossible for many mechanical issues.

If you nare using track power to operate the switch insead od powering it with a auxiliary transformer it could b e you are not getting enough power to the switch.

As everyone has said it could be many things.  I did have a similar issue not too long ago that turned out to be a loose motor mount.  The loose motor would cause a jam at the end of the stroke.  

Thanks for your response. I am aware that low track voltage can cause issues with these switches. The layout does use track power but the transformer is set to max and shows 18 volts at the rail.

Loose motor mount you say! I have not looked closely at the motor, so could you tell me how it is mounted. That is something I will check when I get back into this issue. Thanks for that idea.

I had a NIB O48 switch that stopped working after a short period of time.  I was smart enough not to force it to move.  The 2 screws above the segment gear came loose and one wedged the gear and prevented it from moving.  All I needed was a #0 Philips screwdriver.  Hopes this helps. 

Do they work off the layout?

Loose screws. I can relate to that. I will put that on my check list. Thanks for the tip. I did not try it off the layout. That might be the first step I do. I truly appreciate all of the suggestions I have received. You are a great group of people!

I've had that happen and it was the pinion on the motor riding up over the teeth on the rack that it moves. I put a different motor in and the problem was fixed. Maybe the cause was a slight looseness of the motor mount.