DustherTurns out at least part of my problem in the yard was I had both right and left power routing turnouts connected together. When I separated them with a straight track and insulators my short was gone. I got that my Midsouth Games and Hobbies in. Memphis, TN.
That's what I tried to explain to You in My post........double ended siding. The frog will be of a different polarity if they are not thrown at the same time so you need to insulate at least one of the turnouts on the rails after the frog.
Take Care!
Frank
Took another good close look at the layout with a couple of markers, and yep, the branchline ends up putting the "inside" rail "outside" as compared to the mainline.
Good news is that since the branchline never re-connects to the main, you don't have to worry about this "reversal" of the rails in any dynamic fashion (as you would with a full reversing loop, or a turntable).
It's a dead simple fix -- just take the feeders for the entire branchline and reverse them, so that the branchline "outside" rail is fed from the "inside" power bus, and the "inside" rail is fed from the "outside" power bus.
-Dan
Builder of Bowser steam! Railimages Site
MisterBeasleyCan you post a diagram or give us a link?
That would help. The link that someone posted does not mention reverse polarity. I don't use Kato so it is unfamiliar to me, but nothing jumps out in that diagram as an Oh Oh. So far we are guessing on where your short might be.
DC or DCC if you power on and there is a short, something is wrong and DC or DCC doesn't matter.
A misplaced feeder will cause a short. There are directions in a sticky for how to post an image of your track plan, but if you are not inclined to do that, divide and separate. Disconnect feeders until the short goes away.
As for your power routing Katos, I dunno. There are a lot of conflicting posts out there about the need or lack of need for insulated joiners.
Randy, one of our electrical gurus, said in a prior post re; Kato
If the power routing does indeed connect both rails past the frog to one side or the other, gaps are absolutely needed, since that means the rails past the frog are not insulated from one another. Another reason to have an el cheapo Harbor Freight voltmeter.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Put insulated joiners right about at the backdrop (or thereabouts).
How are you running trains - DCC?
Dusther,
Do You still get a short if both turnouts are set the same way? Like the points are set for the straight route and when You switch one, it shorts? If that is the case...You need to add insulated rail joiners to one of the turnouts on the rails after the frog........from what I see from the plan, there are a lot of them, that You would need to do that to all. When You switch one and not the other, the polarity of the frog rails are different creating a short.
I think he means the mrr project layout from a few years back.
Only place In see what I think is what he describing is the staging track for the branch line - that little run around section.
Sounds like perhaps a feeder is reversed
Welcome aboard!
Can you post a diagram or give us a link?
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I’m trying to make the Red Oak layout with Kato turnouts. There is 1 part that hs 2turnouts back to back but I keep getting a short when I turn on track power. Need to know how to fix it.
Thanks