Switch (Turnout) Problem

You could experiment with positioning a small strip of tape to stop the short, and stick with that if it works, or try a hard enamel paint there.

Swaping in rollers of a different dia. or width would be another approach

We have a number of atlas switches on the club layout that do a similar thing.  Our fix is to use a bit of CA adhesive to insulate a small section that is the troublemaker, that lasts for months and then we just do it again.

Lehighline, by the sounds of your post, I would say your issue is a lack of power to the engine. If one of the pick-up rollers are in fact making contact to the center rail and the engine stops running, I would check that section of center rail for voltage between it and the straight outside rail. If that looks good, set the meter to ohms and see if you have continuity between both pick-up roller on the engine giving you trouble.

Enhanced switch wiring.  If you logically power short rail number 1 and number 2  pictured above, you can electrically bridge the small gap between the two/three rails.   This requires the DZ1008 latching relay to be added to the switch circuit along with the DZ 1000 switch motor.   Instruction available from Ross and DZ. 

Power Routing for Atlas switches was a little more complex, using the 6924 relay boards.  Some cases back to back switch installation can also cause dead spots, even when engine pick-up rollers are a fair distance apart. 

Pick-up roller maintenance and cleaning is important.  Sometimes adding a very small amount of thin oil to the pick-up roller enhances the electrical ability, IMO.  Mike CT.

lehighline posted:

My layout has a mix of Ross Custom and GG switches. These are all the straight sided 100/101 series. My MTH 44 tonners have difficulty going through the straight side of at least one of my Ross switches. They have no trouble (so far) with the turnout side. The engine gets so far and just shuts down. When I tipped it to see where the rollers were, one appeared to be touching both the center rail and the running rail. If that is indeed the case, then I have a short and an explanation. If I run it through above 30 smph, then it hesitates but keep running. But what is the fix? I tried the engines on the GG switches, and had no issues, even running slowly.

 

Chris

LVHR

Does it have rubber tire? I'd check loss of common outer rail connection to complete the circuit.