I have a NCE power cab and I am using two separate mainlines.Each mainline has numerous sidings.I can run my locos great untill I want to bring a loco out of a siding and the loco on the other mainline I was using goes dead.How can I run both mainlines and use different sidings with out shorting out the other mainline?I am using N scale and I have numerous locos with sound on 8 sidings.
froggy,
Have you wired each mainline track and the sidings in reverse of the other? If both mainline tracks and the sidings are wired in phase, you should not have a problem, unless the siding has a built in reversing section.
Rich
Alton Junction
A picture or diagram of the layout would help
Springfield PA
Is the Power Cab going dead or is it just the loco going dead? What switches are you using? Are they power routed and fed from the frog side? Is there a buss line going to the whole layout or just a couple wires going to one spot in the track?
Pete
I pray every day I break even, Cause I can really use the money!
I started with nothing and still have most of it left!
The red light goes out on the power cab which means a short I presume.I am using insulated switches and both individual main lines are wired to the same red and black wires on the NCE.
I do have another Power cab, should I run each main line on two different cabs?
it sounds to me lie you may not have enough power run all of the locos your trying to use, are these sidings relying on the rails to provide power , do you have feeders connected to everything ? also do you have any boosters? if there was a short your display should be flashing on and off
Both main lines are going in a complete oval and each are about 10ft. long.Both have about 5 sidings that are dead end.I have a loco on each siding and and each siding has feeder wires soldered to them.All I have wired to the power cab is the reds and the blacks to both main lines.
I did'nt connect the feeder wires from the sidings to the power cab, only the main line wires.
When I connected all reds and all blacks The light went out instantly and no power at all. I do not have a booster.
What brand of turnouts are you using? Do you have insulated rail joiners on the rails that diverge from the frog? Depending on the brand of turnouts you have, they may be power routing and causing a short when you throw them to the siding if the frog is not properly insulated.
It sounds like a short is happening when you throw the switch. Some turnouts need to have insulated joiners between the two rail that come out of the frog to the joining rail. Or it could be a feeder to a siding that is soldered to the wrong buss line. You should have enough power to run the trains that you describe. My power Cab will run 11 HO scale locos with 9 of them with sound.
Does this happen with all of the sidings, or only some of them?
I'm assuming you've got essentially two loops as your main lines. If the red wire goes to the outer rail on one loop, it should also go to the outer rail on the other loop. Is that the way you've got it?
Exactly when does the short occur? Is it when you throw the turnout, or when the engine reaches the turnout, or when the engine reaches the main line?
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
This happens when I am ready to go into the switch and I throw the switch and then I lose the red light and no power at all.After the frog I do not have any plastic rail joiners after the frog.Two sidings have power to run locos out of but I try another one and I lose power to it all.
MB asked you this but you still haven't answered his question. Let me ask it this way. When you say "the" switch (turnout), do you mean only "a particular" turnout is causing the shorting issues that you're seeing? If you tried another or any turnout, would the exact same thing happen? If not, how many turnouts cause this phenomenon and how many of them don't.
Are the two separate mainlines connected at all by a turnout or turnouts? Or, are they completely separate from one another?
Whichever the case, I would only run one pair of power bus (not "buss") wires off the back of the PCP panel (that you plug your Power Cab into) instead of two. Mechanically, that's putting some unneeded weight on the power bus connector. It would be better if you ran a single pair of power bus wires underneath your layout and you powered both loops from that with track feeders.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
Turnouts are #8 Peco insulated and all of them but two do this.Tomorrow with a clear head I will look at all of them and reavauluate them. I will post tomorrow again, thanks
You need to post a diagram of your layout.
I realize that you are trying to explain the problem in words, but the description of the problem is too general, and that is why a lot of knowledgeable guys are asking all kinds of questions, making all kinds of suggestions, and simply speculating about the possible nature of your problem.
It could be your wiring. It could be your turnouts. It could be your rail connections.
Also, you need to be more clear about your terminology. Although real railroads call switches "switches", in the model railroad hobby, it is better to refer to them as "turnouts" as opposed to the electronic "switches" that power the turnouts.
In any event, the best way to get help and advice is to post a diagram of your layout.