New York Central Engine will not run

We have no clue what’s wrong with out an item number…..post up your locomotive or set number for better assistance,…..operators are standing by,…..please hold,….( cue hold music )

Pat

6-30016

New York Central Flyer

1st clue, green light blinking,….this indicates a short circuit is occurring. Remove everything from the tracks, and try your throttle, if the green light still blinks, check your tracks for something lying across it, and check your wiring is correct…..there’s quite a few possibilities for a short to occur, start the easiest route first,….report back ….

Pat

Light blinks still with nothing on the tracks and throttle up. I did not find anything laying on the tracks. I made my own terminal track and have the red wire to the middle track and the black to an outside track

@Lark posted:

Light blinks still with nothing on the tracks and throttle up. I did not find anything laying on the tracks. I made my own terminal track and have the red wire to the middle track and the black to an outside track

Take out the home made terminal track and try again...

I do not have a factory terminal track. So I am not following what you are suggesting??

@Lark posted:

I do not have a factory terminal track. So I am not following what you are suggesting??

Try running a couple wires right to the track. With your current set up even with the wires crossed you shouldn't get the blinking green light.

Last question. Has it run as currently hooked up before or is the first time trying?

@Lark posted:

I do not have a factory terminal track. So I am not following what you are suggesting??

Let’s try this, can you post up pics of your home made terminal track?…..underneath, where you hooked up your wires?….also, let’s start from absolutely zero, disconnect the wires from the transformer all together, and then throttle up, does the light quit blinking then?..

Pat

pic of track underside for wire hookup.

Also when I disconnect the wires from the transformer, the green light does not blink.

A Reply mentioned run wires straight to the track. I do not follow how to do this

@Lark posted:

A Reply mentioned run wires straight to the track. I do not follow how to do this

I have wires with alligator clips on both ends that I use for testing. Something quick and easy to go from the transformer to the track in your case for testing.

You said the blinking stopped when you pulled the wires off. Somethings amiss with the wires or the connection.

Does it blink with the homemade terminal track disconnected from the rest of the track?

I see it says "insulated" on the bottom. Is it an insulated section used to activate an accessory?

I am not sure about the insulated part. I had bought some straight track and that sticker was on it.

I did check the reply about disconnecting the homemade track from the layout. When I did that the green light did not blink when the throttle was pushed up

That IS an insulated track section for driving operating accessories in conjunction with two gap sections on either side.  That's why its missing the metal plates between the outside rails.  That still doesn't explain your problem though.

What happens if you unplug the wires from the track?

Jon

Have to tried attaching the wires to a different piece of track? This way you can just eliminate that insulated piece all together.

Virtually all electrical problems can be solved by process of elimination.

1. Disconnect all wires from your CW80, plug it into the wall, and lift the handle.  Does it blink?

2. Connect your wires to the CW80 but not to the track and try again.  Does it blink?

3. Attach just that one piece of track to the wires and try again.  Does it blink?

If the answers to all of these are no, then you have a short somewhere in the track across the layout.  Perhaps a track piece is sitting on top of something metal?

Ok

The light does not blink when throttle is up and no wires connected to the track.

The light does blink when the track is connected to the layout and throttle is up.

I did make a new terminal track so the insulated track is no longer in use

@Lark posted:

Ok

The light does not blink when throttle is up and no wires connected to the track.

The light does blink when the track is connected to the layout and throttle is up.

I did make a new terminal track so the insulated track is no longer in use

With no trains on the track?  This means somewhere there's a short circuit.  Which means that somewhere metal is touching between the center and outside rails, allowing electricity to flow directly across, either on the top or underneath the track.

This most often happens when the wheels of the train are not properly on the track and they touch the center rail and one of the outer rails, but if there are no train cars on the rails, it must be something else.

@Lark posted:

The light does not blink when throttle is up and no wires connected to the track.

The light does blink when the track is connected to the layout and throttle is up.

OK, another test. Connect the wires to the transformer, but not to the track, and report back.

When the wires are connected to the transformer and not the track, the green light does not blink when the throttle is up

I would take it all apart. Connect the wires to your terminal track, push the throttle up and add one section at a time until the light blinks. Sounds like you have a bad section.

I am assuming there are no trains on the track.

My suggestion -  slow but will probably locate defect causing short. (Method know as a binary search.)

1) CW80 connected to terminal track, terminal track not connected to any other track. If no blink, on to step two.

2) Break layout into two independent sections (don't know how many pieces of track in your layout, but each section will contain multiple pieces of track) - no interconnection between the two sections. Connect terminal track to one section - power up CW80. Blink - defect is in this section of tracks, no blink, connect terminal track to other section and power up - would expect blink if the first section did not blink.

3) Take the section that blinks, break it into two sections, and repeat 2). Keep repeating until you are left with the defect as the only thing attached to the terminal track and you get blink.

Hopefully this will get you to the failing piece of track or something amiss under the failing piece of track causing the short.

I know its a pain, but I use an ohm meter (available on Volt Ohm Meters (VOMs)) to check for a short between center rail and outer rails on every piece of track before I install it - 99.9 % are good, but one bad one installed can be a bigger pain to find.

Edited to change voltmeter to ohm meter per correction suggestion by @Mike D

Finally Success. I did break the layout down into sections and found the faulty track. It was an operating track.

Thanks to all those who responded. Especially the last two responses about breaking the layout apart and putting it back together one piece at a time.

@MED posted:

I use a voltmeter to check for a short

I know this may seem like nit picking, don't take it that way, but a voltmeter is for measuring voltage. An ohmmeter would be used for checking resistance. Most of us use a multimeter that measures many different components of electricity and associated hardware.

I am only pointing it out because there may be novices that aren't familiar with these terms that will read this thread and may be confused.

Huzzah!  Now for the big question: does your engine work?

Jon

Engine is up and running

Awesome.  Glad you could figure it out.

Jon