Turnout dead spots

@BigS06 posted:

Hey everyone. I just installed a Atlas 3 rail #7.5 left turout. When I run a Lionel full scale berkshire going across the straight section of the switch. There seems to be a dead spot where the engine loses power. On the left part of the switch the engine runs across it smooth with no issues. Whats the fix?

First, measure the distance between the pick-up rollers on your model. Second, measure the distance between the hot/center rails of the turnout. If the spacing of the pick-up rollers is less than the spacing of the center rails "gap", i.e. dead spot, then you have a problem. You may have to add a 3rd pick-up roller on the tender of your model.

I see the same thing with a number of my Ross switches, sometimes you have to add rollers or relay switching of center roller power to internal rails.  The Ross curved switches and the double-slip switches need relay switching or many locomotives with smaller roller spacing will stall on them.  That Atlas switch is fairly long, no big surprise.

Thanks. I check on a multi meter for dead spots and I have power at all the center rails of the switch. So I think I have to add a roller, maybe find wider roller or a longer roller. You know if this is possible on a Lionel full scale berkshire? Specifically Lionel 6-38050.

Do a SEARCH, Blue line top of page.  Either Atlas 6924 relay board, or Power Routing, through turnouts.  Atlas, Ross, or Gargraves  usually provides power routing details/diagrams with  their switches.  DZ 1008 latching relay would be another SEARCH that would provide information about turnout problems.

It's fairly easy to add a one-wire tether connection between the locomotive and tender to share pickup power.  I've done this to most of my smaller steam, and even some of the larger ones with only two rollers on the locomotive.

As Mike points out and I also mentioned, there are many solutions to switching fixed rails to center roller for one path through the switch to minimize dead spots.  For some switch configurations like longer switches and especially the Ross double-slip switch, powering normally dead rails based on switch path is pretty mandatory to allow small powered units to make it through.

I like the idea of running a wire between the tender and locomotive. I figure I would go from the screw holding the collector roller in place on the locomotive to the screw holding the collector roller in place on the tender?

Well, I just tap into the internal wiring, it's cleaner than putting it on the screw, but anywhere works as long as it's center roller power.

I do the one-wire tether with machine-pin parts, male and female.  Obviously, I use black for the external tether, these were for an antenna connection internally in a steamer.