New Track Multi Level Plan O Scale HELP

Looking at the build photos and the track plan the elevated track should not be that close to the last yard switch. After the incline to the upper level it is 3-036 then 1-O36 22.5° and then 1-O36 11.25°. That would change the angle of the whole elevated loop and move the overpass away from those 3 yard switches.

Do you have the 1/4 turn there before the straight?

The other place to look at is in front of the transformer area. There should be a 10"+5"+1 3/4" there before the turn. It looks like the 1 3/4" is missing. That would push/move the upper loop away from the yard switches.

Those are the two places that would change the as built angle/position from the planned angle/position of the elevated loop.

Look where it should be passing over the yard spurs. I see one track joint over the first spur where you would have to slide a trestle a little away from the joint.

here's it your view photo

Yes I checked out the parts you mentioned and all is there the 1/4 turn before the straight on upper level and the 1 3/4 by transformer( hard to see in my picture).  Maybe I just need to align the tracks a little over ?  I will try to adjust. Even in the diagram you can see the upper curve loop go right over the left remote switch toward tunnel and side turnout. Just concerned with after the 4 1/2 , 1/4 turn and the 036 1/2 on upper curve over the left remote.

I would disconnect the tracks at the circles and try to align the straights at the arrows. Sliding the whole incline, upper level curve and elevated straight by moving the curve on the upper level towards the back wall an inch or so to get the position on the straight over the yard spurs.

You don't want to force the bend on the track joints of the curve.

Then check the alignment of the incline to the table edge to see if the spacing to the roadbed edge is consistent. It should be about 2"-2 1/4" or at least the same.

Then, when you reconnect the loop, take some photos of the curve end and the overview near the yard. I have never encountered a large variance in plan to build with SCARM. I want to determine if we have one or not and why.

Thanks.

Well I tried to align the upper loop portion but still have the same problem. I checked the alignment of the incline and it's about 2 1/4".  I didn't want to force it too much on the curves.  I took some more photo's after the move.  I will figure this out and maybe go with the plywood idea.  Just wanted to see what you thought about it.  Thanks Again.

I don't know what's going on. Do you have O48 going from the front, then the straights past the transformers and O36 towards the incline?

Can you take a photo of the curves coming off the incline on the elevated deck and post it?

Thanks.

Somewhere it's about an 1 3/4" off.

I have the ( 3 )  048 front tracks and then the straights. Here's the curves on elevated off incline.

Ok, one last section that could affect it. The straight for the r-loop cross-over on the upper level should be 2-10" + 8- 1 3/8"= 31". You can check that with a tape measure easily. That would push the long straight closer to the lower level switches if it were too long.

Also, the straight at the end of the loop crossing to the elevated deck should be 5-1 3/4" + 1- 1 3/8" or 10.13"

Yes all your figures checked out on the track I will just have to adjust it and make something to fit..  Now for a wiring question with the DCS. Sorry to sound dumb but when wire from the Z4000 transformer to the TIU and then TIU to MTH block do the feeder wires need to go to 1 MTH block or more blocks, and can those blocks be used for accessories or need to be separate just for track feeds.  Do I need feeder wires for each  block on the layout there are 5 blocks on lower level and 4 blocks on upper making 9 total so do I need to feed each of those blocks from the MTH terminal block I think the MTH block has 10 or 12 points on each (Hot and Common)  Thanks   

Not seasoned yet posted:

Yes all your figures checked out on the track I will just have to adjust it and make something to fit..  Now for a wiring question with the DCS. Sorry to sound dumb but when wire from the Z4000 transformer to the TIU and then TIU to MTH block do the feeder wires need to go to 1 MTH block or more blocks, Only 1 distribution board is needed. Some like to center it under the layout, but it's not that critical. I would try to not cross the feeder pairs or have them too close together.

and can those blocks be used for accessories or need to be separate just for track feeds.  Separate for track feeds

Do I need feeder wires for each  block on the layout there are 5 blocks on lower level and 4 blocks on upper making 9 total so do I need to feed each of those blocks from the MTH terminal block Yes

I think the MTH block has 10 or 12 points on each (Hot and Common)  Thanks   True Use 9 of the 12 on one terminal board

Sorry for the late reply, the grandchildren spent some time with me.

Pulling the center wire on the 1 3/8" is easy enough to create isolated section. The other places marked "pull pins" is the center rail only. If you look on the bottom of piece of FasTrack, you will see tabs. Bend them up straight (center rail only) with a screwdriver and lift the center rail off of the roadbed. Now you can get the connector pin off. Then, put the rail back down, flip the track over and apply gentle downward pressure and bend the tabs back down.

You need to do this for each piece of track at the isolation joint. Save the pins to return them to factory for future use.

Then you are ready to wire. I would suggest making the connections in the center of each block length.

here's a cut sheet if you need to support the elevated track with sub-roadbed to get the piers to space out. Home Depot sells pre-cut 4 x 4 sheets in luan or ply.

Great ! Thanks ! Very appreciated I am sure I will have more questions as time arises ( hope you don't mind )  Enjoy those grandchildren and teach them all you can they need you in the way the world is today.  How old are they and do they enjoy the trains ? I am sure they do. Thanks Again.

Not seasoned yet posted:

Great ! Thanks ! Very appreciated I am sure I will have more questions as time arises ( hope you don't mind )  Enjoy those grandchildren and teach them all you can they need you in the way the world is today.  How old are they and do they enjoy the trains ? I am sure they do. Thanks Again.

They are 4 and 3 years old. The 4 year old has been running trains since 1 1/2. His sister wasn't interested until 2. They have LionChief. The grandson can run a conventional train with handles, but he likes his remote.

I don't mind at all.

I emailed Mixy to review the fitment issue between plan and build. He is the author of SCARM and we want to confirm the track geometry for the curves coming off of the elevated deck. Yours is the first plan to build fitment problem I have encountered with SCARM and FasTrack.

Just a question on pulling pins on Fastrack.  in the area where pins need to be removed do yo pull the pins on 1 of the tracks only where they meet together, or pull the pins on both connecting tracks that meet together ?  Thanks 

I have a suggestion on the back incline use 3 30 inch pieces instead of the 10's it will make the incline smoother. in the photos the incline doesn't look to be very smooth a 30 inch will allow for better control over the incline and spacing of the piers. you eliminate 9 joints 13 joints to 4 joints.

Not seasoned yet posted:

Just a question on pulling pins on Fastrack.  in the area where pins need to be removed do yo pull the pins on 1 of the tracks only where they meet together, or pull the pins on both connecting tracks that meet together ?  Thanks 

Both sides of the track joint for center rail or both pins, so there is no connection.  This is only needed for DCS.

Jhainer posted:

I have a suggestion on the back incline use 3 30 inch pieces instead of the 10's it will make the incline smoother. in the photos the incline doesn't look to be very smooth a 30 inch will allow for better control over the incline and spacing of the piers. you eliminate 9 joints 13 joints to 4 joints.

The risers are temporary. He has the MTH set ordered to elevate to 6.5".

Hi all, been a while, still working on layout wiring and just finished last two of 9 remote switches.  Seem to have come across another problem when I added the last 2 switches that are connected to each other on top layer.  Before I wired them a dry run with train heading toward switches worked fine now after the wiring the train stops before the (3) 1 1/4 jumper pieces.  The transformer light starting blinking so it seems a short is there.  At first after the 2 remotes were connected the transformer red light was blinking I checked all of the DCS tracks to see if a wire was loose all was ok.  Somehow power is stopping before the 2 switches and track makes noise and gets hot. I took off jumper wires on the 1 1/4 pieces and tried again and same problem I am lost at what else to do.  I  checked the switches for connections and always sodered the wire but all seems ok.  Seems to be the (3) 1 1/4 pieces as problem but what could be wrong with them since all was fine before. If you see my other post earlier Carl helped me with the whole layout and you can see in Scarm pictures in post the top level and the 2 switches coming off to go to the loop around.  Thanks

hey NSY,

definitely, sounds like something is shorted. I wouldn't power anything until you figure it out.

What did you wire, the controller handles?

How are you powering the switches? Track power or ACC power?

The most obvious seems like the controller wires are connected to the wrong terminals, since all was ok until you connected those.

Have transformer wired to a block and wires from terminal to each switch.  I have double check wiring to switch that is giving me problem when connected. If I remove the power to the switch all is good.  When I hook up power to it and raise transformer handle red light flashes as short.  I even changed out switch with another to see if switch unit might be bad but continue to have same problem.  could the (3) 1 1/4 strips be bad? When I checked them with meter showed no power on them.  When I disconnect he 3 strips from witch end the transformer shows no red light and I get 18 volts.  I am so baffled with this and can't use trains.   Thanks for any help.  I feel like scraping the fastrack and going to atlas at this point.

I am still not sure where the wiring problem would be located.

The switches do not need separate power. However, if you do wish to power them separately, it should be from the ACC terminals on your Z-4000 at 14 volts.

What is the source of power for the switches?

The track power jumper must be removed. I assume you know this, but point it out anyway.

It appears like a wire is crossed somewhere in that area. It seems like it has to do with the switch power source.

Are you using one of the CW-80's to power the switches?

If yes, try reversing the hot and common wires.

Check the bottom of that CW-80 and look for the letter G in the production code. If it's not there, the hot and common are reversed.

Thanks Carl,  I have the switches powered with the Z4000 to a terminal block and power the switches off that.  I played with the tracks today and the (3) 1 1/4 pieces after the switch started to spark and smoke a little.  I took apart the line after the switch and put it back together, the transformer was good 18 volts.  I put the train on and it started to run but stopped before the (3) 1 1/4 tracks and then the transformer started to show the blinking red light.  Now I don't know if it is the switch since it works with the manual lever.  The (3) 11/4 have the jumper wire connected as per the DCS block set up, could this be the problem ? why would the train stop before them with no power?  Played with the track again and now light shows short again.  I am just stomped and running out of patients.  I can't figure this out any suggestions ?  Thanks

Only one of the 1 3/8" pieces in that area should have the center wire pulled to create a block.

The power feeds (hot and common) to each block should connect to a track near the center of each block. (different colors)

I have attached the drawings to review.

Sometimes, with FasTrack, a hot connection can touch the outside rails jumper bar underneath of a track section where the connectors are located. This would only happen on a full size piece where you have track feeds. A piece of electrical tape covering the jumper bar for the outside rails solves that.

If you happened to reverse the AUX power leads to the switch, you would get a short in that block.

Ok Please explain this one to me.  I was reading some other posts about fastract switches and about ground wire and aux wire being in the wrong place, so I doubled checked and all was good so I decided to remove the ground wire to see what would happened.  Long and behold the transformer showed no short and when running the train it went over the (3) 1 1/4 pieces to the switch without stopping.  What is this all about ?  why would this one switch not need the ground wire to it to make this work while all the other switches have it connected ?  Like I said I just did this as a shot in the dark.  I have one more switch to go so lets see what happens.  This ground wire thing I would have never figured out    Thanks

I didn't want to introduce more variables until you were positive that the track wiring was correct.

There was a batch of FasTrack switches that were incorrectly wired when manufactured. They present a short when one attempts to wire them with AUX power. This could be one.

The repair to correct the condition (from Lionel)is attached. Also attached is an alternate method without soldering by a forum member.

Wow never would have found this out.  I should sue them for the mental anguish they caused me. So much for being made in China.  As of now the track is working fine without the ground wire attached to the switch so I don't believe it should cause a problem but maybe I will do the correction anyway.  Thanks so much ,  amazing how you find out this stuff by the way  

Finding out this stuff is a benefit of the forum.  remembering where I saved it or bookmarked it is a whole new issue

It has nothing to do with where it's made. Everything has production errors.

many also forget that they can call Lionel or MTH customer service and usually get some good help.

Thanks Again