I would like some help please again
This time on track
My question is how do you tell if a track is bad I I have a short I think on a piece of track the locomotive will be going just fine then when the locomotive comes around a corner or some times when the train goes. Over a track switch the locomotive will stop and go the opposite derection is a short on the track ? How do. I tell if a piece of track bad or not ?
Thank you for your time
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What brand (Gilbert AF, SHS, AM, AF FasTrack, etc.) and type (flex or sectional) is your track?
Does this happen with all of your locomotives or just certain ones? If only certain ones then what are they?
From your description, it sounds like you are using conventional control. What you describe could be the loco losing power which triggers the reverser. This could be a short but could just be a bad connection. As Chuck asks - need more info.
Brendan
Were it a "short" in a section of track it would short out the entire block and trip the circuit breaker in the transformer. The engine is losing power traversing the turnout. If it reverses rather than going into neutral then the engine has a two position reverse unit. As they asked, what engine and what kind of track?
As Brendan noted, sounds like you are loosing power to that track, not a short.
Are the joints tight and clean?
Is the track level with adjoining pieces? If not, the engine might be slightly lifting up at the joint causing a quick interruption of power to it
Don,
You have to make sure that the curved track section, and all of the screw holes in the switcher, have screws in them that are really screwed down tight. I had a similar problem, and found that since everything was not screwed down tight, the track and switch had occasional "high spots" in the rails, which caused the opposite side of the loco to lift up off of a rail, which can cause it for a split second to lose power. This can also happen if one of the rails in track section got slightly twisted out of shape, due to someone having to really pull hard or twist to yank an old pin out of the end.
I would start by throwing away the track sections where the problem occurs, and install new or nearly new track there. Then start screwing things down. Also make sure you install brand new pins and crimp them down hard with a proper track crimping plier.
Maybe this info will help.
Mannyrock
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