Thanks for all the suggestions. In the end I didn't need the volt or ohm meter. BTW .... running a lighted passenger car did indicate the weak spots. I did bend the rails as Bruce suggested however I believe the problem was in the center rail of the half straight between the uncouple track and the switch track. When I pulled everything apart I noticed a buildup of "crud" in the center rail of the half straight ,,,, dug it out with a mini screwdriver and the power is constant and the the trains run smooth.
I am going to suggest you use my technique for making tight connections. Bend the rail where the pin is installed to the right slightly, and bend the left outside rail to the left slightly. This will put pressure on the pins when they are inserted into the holes of the adjacent section, and it will also put pressure on the pins where they are installed in the track section. If you want to make a good connection, you need to have some force or pressure on the contacts (pins). You can verify this with an ohm meter by putting it on a low ohm scale and touching both leads to the outside rail of a section of track. Touch them lightly and then increase the pressure. You will see the ohm reading drop when you increase the pressure. If you take the pointed ends of the leads and press them into the side of the rail, you will likely see a further decrease in the ohm reading. Gold contacts work better than base metal contacts, but I don't think we are going to gold plate our pins.
Most likely the curved track that connects to the uncoupling section has some pins that are not making good contact where they are installed in the section. Things corrode over time, and even if there is not rust, the plating on the rails tends to corrode a little making the contacts somewhat high resistance.
BB
Do you have a voltmeter and a spare lockon? Put the spare lockon in turn onto each track section and connect the voltmeter between the center-rail terminal of your permanent lockon and the center-rail terminal of the spare lockon to observe the voltage difference as the train goes by. Then do it again with the outside-rail terminals. If you see any voltage difference, you can say that the problem is in that rail, somewhere between the two lockons. This should allow you to identify the area where you have any high-resistance joint(s).
Bob Nelson
I tend to agree that it is not a short. There are many curves in the layout and nor do I thinks it's mechanical resistance either. When I run an older Lionel dual engine diesel (EL 8906), the lights in the cab dim prior to the uncouple track but when it hits the uncouple track the lights get brighter and the speed picks up. I did remove the uncouple track last evening and as I stated earlier, it has improved somewhat but has not solved the issue. I just bought a Williams FM which where these symptoms are less noticable but still exist. I'll have to check and see at which point the lights begin to dim. I don't know if this matters but forward of the uncouple track there is a half st and curve connected to a manual O guage switch and then 2 isolated tracks which control a 445 tower. From that point it's all standard O tubular. What's the best way to check each track???
I doubt that the problem is a short circuit. It seems more likely that it is a high-resistance track joint. Using a lighted car probably won't show the problem, since it draws much less current than a locomotive pulling a train and therefore causes much less voltage drop through any track-joint resistance. Consider the possibility that the problem is between a track pin and the rail that it is crimped to, rather than plugged into.
I noticed a mention of curved track adjacent to the problematical uncoupling section. A curve can certainly slow down a train, from the extra friction involved and sometimes from binding from the misalignment of the wheels with the rails. So the problem could be mechanical if you observe it in a curve leading immediately into the uncoupling section.
A second lockon would definitely help, but I would make sure there is not some acute problem (like a short) first. If you have a lighted car, put it on the tracks, turn up the power, and roll it through by hand. Try to find the exact point on the layout where the light dims. Then carefully tilt the car and note the exact location of the pickup roller--that is the place you want to investigate. If the light does not dim for you, put some downward pressure on the car as you roll it, to simulate the weight of a train.
I took your suggestion and removed the unload/uncouple track and it improved the performance a bit. There is still some surge and I just don't understand why this "surge" is happening. I also changed another curved track that commected to the uncouple track. Could a second lockon help to "balance" the flow of power???
Any thoughts??
not sure but sounds like there might be a problem with your uncoupler track and its causing a short.
not knowing how familiar your with that piece do you have it wired up correctly. is it the 5 rail type ( uncoupler/unload track)or the one with like the button in the middle.
Do you have another piece of just plain straight track you could replace in the position of the uncoupler track to see if it is the uncoupler track. ( if problem goes away its the uncoupler track)
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I'm running a 4x10x6 L shaped layout and one of the "loops" is showing some power inconsistency. Using O tubular, the lockon is only 4 track sections away from the power loss. Between the 2 or 3 tracks where the train slows and the lockon location is an uncoupling track. As soon as the train rolls over the uncoupling track it picks up power and speed. I've removed the tracks in question and cleaned and tightened the pin connections and it did not seem to help. Any thoughts on what might be happening??
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