Ross switches shorting/wiring for manual switch ground throws

you won't need to wire them unless you have some very short locos that stall on them. it basically uses those two sections as a continuation of the center rail if needed. I have not found anything yet that has needed me to wire them up.

Thanks Rick

the thing I am seeing is that in one case the switch is shorting in the straight position when the center roller gets to the switch points or there abouts, and on another switch it was fine straight but the diverting route would short when an engine came over.  I figured I must have something wrong since the switches will not let trains pass.  I will look and see if these are used switches that have been modified but it seemed strange that the first two switches I tried each had issues albeit different issues.

I have seen from a video that the points are supposed to be insulated but it appears from my diagram from Ross that I need to be changing power on a pair of rails just past the points which kind of fits with my trains shorting I guess.

are they shorting out or are the trains loosing power. I have 40 of these and never had a problem with any of them. there are only dead sections on the switch nothing that could cause a short. put a lighted car some where else on the layout and run the loco thru the switch if it just stops and the lighted car stays lit you have a dead spot not a shot if the car light goes out as well then you have a short. does the breaker on your transformer trip?

There should be no shorting going through a Ross switch unless some wires are crossed somewhere. I have a shelf area with all Caboose Industries ground throws. At least 1 #8 and a few #6’s. With Ross switches I solder a feeder to every isolated rail. Whether or not they get used is up to how everything operates through them. With the newer engines with multiple rollers and axle wipers I haven’t found a need to do any added wiring for relays.

If you want to stick with manual only ground throws. These are a bit more work as they mount under the layout. Much like a Tortoise switch motor.

If you find you need to activate a rail to navigate through a turnout without stalling and you want to stick with the Caboose Industries throws. You could mount a Microswitch. The kind with a lever that the throwbar could activate it by opening and closing it.

Thanks for the responses!  So on the switch that would short on the diverging route it would spark and blow the breaker.  That was with my EM-1 circa 2000 or so and the roller on the tender that would short.  Backed the tender into the switch a couple times and it shorted out consistently so I stopped doing it.

On the stall switch I will check the tender pickups.  New engine so something may not be working there.

I will look some more at the various switches and use the ohm meter to see if something is wired without me knowing.

Ross makes such a variety of switches. Which type or numbered switch is causing the problem ?

Is it just one engine or tender that has an issue ?

The rollers on the tender are only there to provide for the sound. Unless someone added some wiring and tied all the rollers together. Run just the engine itself. Will run without the tender. See if it makes it through with no issues.

Take a close look at the moving rails, occasionally one of the track spikes can contact them in one position and cause an issue.

Thanks very much for all the great responses!

Just as a follow up it is all my engines that have seen this problem but it turns out to be different problems.  I should have deployed my Fluke multimeter the first notice of problems but ...

So on quite a few of the Ross switches including what to me looks like one of my new ones, the center rail does not have continuity (electrical contact) from one side of the switch to the other.  So I will solder some wire to fix that.  I also am seeing that the outer rail (the one acting as an antenna for tmcc and legacy control signal radiation) is not continuous either for some of the switches.  I cannot say that this is not some modification of the previous owner (most of the switches are used and some definitely show signs of mods) but it does not matter.  I need them to work and I dont mind soldering, quite the opposite in fact.

The switch that was shorting went back with the group in box of about 15-20 Ross switches that I had purchased in the last two years while waiting for a layout loft to be built, so I dont know what was going on with that but some time this weekend I will see if I can meter out all the switches and leave myself notes (if I dont I wont remember a thing!).

Thanks for all the great suggestions and tips!