jeffrey-wimberly Solder the track joints at either end of that section of track or solder a feeder wire that goes from one section to the other. The problem you describe sounds like a classic case of loose rail joiners. Trust the joiners to hold the rails in alignment (most of the time) but don't trust them to convey the power from one section to the other. That's what wires and soldering irons are for.
Solder the track joints at either end of that section of track or solder a feeder wire that goes from one section to the other. The problem you describe sounds like a classic case of loose rail joiners. Trust the joiners to hold the rails in alignment (most of the time) but don't trust them to convey the power from one section to the other. That's what wires and soldering irons are for.
Amen!
If you don't solder every uninsulated rail joiner, you should take the time to solder a jumper around every one of them. Other modelers will tell you to put a separate feeder to every length of rail - but, if you use sectional track that would mean a feeder every nine inches!
Even if a rail joiner makes good contact when new it isn't reliable for the long haul. I am building my last-in-this-lifetime layout, and I don't want to have to re-visit any of my trackage because of electrical discontinuity.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
Your question is too vague, you need to be more specific,
Are you running dc or dcc? it matters because you may have something causing a short in that area tripping the circuit breaker in your command station.
Do you have power before and after that section of track that you've replaced?if you do you may have a problem withhow your making the connection..
How do you get power to your track strictly by connecting one to another or do you run feeders down to a pair of buss wires?
Is there a turnout involved? I had a friend drive himself and half of the club crazy trying to diagnose this short over the phone. I walked into his basement walked over to the section of track where 4 guys form the club were ready to rip out half the layout and flipped the Peco turnout in the other direction.Shazam!!! power, he was using (this always gets me confused) either insulfrog or electrofrog turnouts one of which cuts the power to the rails once the points are thrown.
Where is the track in relation to the overall track plan? I used to work whit a guy who pulled his hair out over a similar problem, the cause of his dilemma was when he was running his DCC buss wires he inadvertently flipped them causing a change in polarity I mark mine red & white. The red buss wire is always closets to me and the rail closest to me always gets a red feeder or drop wire so i never confuse the two, may sound hokey way to remember it but I don't get my wires crossed.
Provide a little more information and I'm sure some of the guys here may be able to help you out.
I had the same problem a few times with track right after a turn out and it was because the metal plate thingy under the part of the track that turns off the main line was not making contract. A little press with some small needle nose pliers fixed that. Now that I am wiser I try to put a feeder soon after and right before each turn out.
BartManFLI put a continuity tester to it and it's not gettin any juice
I assume that you are checking for voltage, not resistance as the term "continuity tester" would imply?
Where is this section of track? Is it between two other sections of track where you do have power? Is it a stub siding off a turnout?
Welcome to the fourms.
What are you using to connect your track together, soldering, rail joiners? Are you using sectional or flex track? How far apart are your feeder wires? I would say that if you are using joiners, they are loose. You can pinch them together for better contact. However, even good rail joiners can fail to make good electrical contact. Many people using flex track solder two pieces together (6') and solder a feeder wire to each section. If you are using sectional track it makes for a lot of soldering.
Get back with a little more information and folks will see what they can come up with for solutions.
Good luck,
I'm a novice to HO scale and I'm having trouble with my layout. I have one segment of dead track. I put a continuity tester to it and it's not gettin any juice (only this one segment of track). I've replaced the segment couple of times with new track but track is still dead. Any suggestions?