My layout is HO, Atlas code 83 track and Digitrax DCC. On one of my mainlines, I have 2 RH #6 Atlas turnouts connected to each other to switch from track #2 to track #1. All of my locomotives make through these turnouts, switched and unswitched, north bound or south bound without any problems except my Walthers mainline ES44. When the Mainline locomotive is NB on track #2 and gets to the turnout when it is unswitched it will stop after 10.5 " inches of travel at medium and low speeds on the section of turnout track. If the loco is NB on track #2 and the turnout is switched, it will not stall. If the loco travels SB on track #2 it will not stall. On any combination of the turnouts being switched or unswitched, NB or SB, track #1 to track #2 or track #2 to track #1, forward or reversed, the loco ONLY stalls going NB on track #2, unswitched, after 10.5" of travel everytime. Could it be shorting out at the frog?
This is 10.5" beyond the frog? Do the lights stay on or go out?
If the hypothesis is the loco shorts and travels 10" before stopping, then you either have very big flywheels or very slow electricity.
Is the coupler glad hand hitting a track nail? Is there a track guage and wheel guage issue at that spot? There could be marginal electrical pick up in an area where there is marginal track power.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Appears you have the issue down to one single Walther’s engine. I assume the internal workings of the ES44ac and SD70ACE are very similar. With that said......a complete teardown may be in order. Look for intermittent electrical connections in truck assemblies and wiring going to printed circuit board. The wiring is very flimsy and routed very tightly through the chassis. Perhaps the trucks turning left or right is causing a wire to open or short to the frame because the insulation is worn. I had to tear down an SD70ACE for similar behavior and I was disappointed at the poor quality of the electrical system. Found my troubles to be in the contacts riding on the bearings in the trucks......either open or high resistance requiring them to be ”adjusted”. Verified the fix by checking wheel to circuit board continuity with Fluke meter. That corrected the problem. Having been burned on Walthers 130’ TT and problematic locomotives, I will no longer purchase their products. My roster of 300 locomotives includes twenty five Athearn BB SD40-2 locomotives.....all 35+ years old and they run rings around these Walthers engines.Good luck troubleshooting this one.
The couplers are not hanging up and lights go out too and I lost my track gauge. I measured the wheels width with a micrometer and they matched the rear wheels. So i'll go with EMDSD40 and tear it down to look for bad wiring on the front truck.