Funny you mention that.....worked on my T1 two days ago for a very similar problem. My layout is straight DC,brass track,Atlas turnouts,and MRC CM20 power supplies. All BLI engines run through DC Master or Quantum Engineer. I do not have any parts of the running gear rubbing. Perhaps what you are calling a short is actually a momentary loss of power causing the electronics to recycle? That was the problem I had to correct. You state the tender has been eliminated, however the illustrated parts breakdown shows the electrical pickup is done via wipers on the tenders axles. I removed the bottom plate on both trucks, cleaned and polished the axles and wipers. A drop of DEOX was applied at contact points and reassembled. Check the wire soldered on the wiper of each truck for good solder joint while it’s apart. Pay attention to each axle as one side is insulated. Also applied DEOX to pins in back of engine where cable is connected. Test run back and forth over numerous Atlas switches without a problem. Returned T1 back to the ready track. Good Luck with troubleshooting, post your fix.
Greetings, I have a paragon Prr t-1 that runs for a second then shorts and then runs. This happens on any track. I replaced the original decoder with tsunami and it still does it. I know it’s from engine and not tender. I took off running gear on the side that the locomotive picks up power and the short stopped. After looking at all parts I see that the guides that keep the piston sliding into the piston has been rubbed down to bare metal. Could this be the shorting and when the pressure is off this part when the Loco stops the decoder starts again. Anyone else had an issue like this