I’m fairly new to model railroading and have started a layout I found in one of the track layout books. It has a 25 degree crossing in the layout. When I run my locomotives over the crossing at prototypical speeds they will stall for a second but manage to get through the crossing. Is there anything that can be done short of running the locos at fast speeds through the crossing?
Any advice would be appreciated.
What kind of locomotive is this? Does it have all wheel pickup or is it an older one that is different?
If it is a relatively new locomotive check to be sure all of your railjoiners are tight and passing current.
ROAR
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It would help if you could meter the various rail segments inside the crossing while a locomotive moves over it more slowly and actually stalls. You'll find if the appliance is assembled correctly, or which of its rails dies if electrical contact is faulty between the various rail joiners and the crossing rails that is slides onto.
It could be bad joiner contact, or it could just be that it is essentially a broadly electrically dead block of track, maybe just on that one route. For example, does the same phenomenon occur regardless of the approach to this crossing?
What brand and rail code? DC or DCC (and sound)?
I ask because I have a triple 90 degree code 83 Atlas crossing arrangement that had a tendency for a slight current interruption for a Genesis GP-9 DCC/sound loco. The interruptions caused a sound "hiccup" rather than a stall. There were two problems.
The first was self inflicted, as I set the desired track spacings between the crossings by adding rather short rail segments between the crossings, soldering the joiners. All well and good, except the workmanship was not so hot so the crossing zone was not so flat and/or the joints had some slight vertical kinks. I might have filed the rail tops across the assembly a bit to improve the flatness.
The second problem was that these particular (2011 or so) crossings had manufacturing problems. This caused the trucks to bump as they traversed a crossing. I forget whether the plastic moldings had one or both problems of the guard rails spacing being too narrow or the molding not providing enough depth for the wheel flange. A bit of filing improved these spacings so the NMRA gauge was happy.
FWIW. If either of the above is relates to your problem, it is probably the latter. Check with the NMRA gauge. I did find the GP-9 was a great test engine for track weaknesses, where any spot that tended to get dirty a bit was first indicated by this loco. In the end, I used a sledge hammer and added a Keep Alive type capacitor to this loco, which solved its sensitivity problem. One moral of this story...perfect your trackwork.
Paul
Modeling HO with a transition era UP bent
The manufacturer, code #, etc., matters. For example, Atlas crossings inherently contain dead spots around the frogs by design (which makes them much easier to wire). PECO Electrofrog crossings have live (powered) frogs. But especially for the shallower angles, the frogs are intended to be powered by a switch (or something like the frog juicer).
Note also that shallower angle crossings have correspondingly longer frogs, which increases the risk of power drop-outs if the frogs are insulated.
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Michael6453 I’m fairly new to model railroading and have started a layout I found in one of the track layout books. It has a 25 degree crossing in the layout. When I run my locomotives over the crossing at prototypical speeds they will stall for a second but manage to get through the crossing. Is there anything that can be done short of running the locos at fast speeds through the crossing? Any advice would be appreciated.
As Cuyama noted, Atlas crossings have dead spots near the frogs (where the tracks meet), and a 25 degree crossing is a fairly shallow crossing making the frogs that much longer and lengtheneing the dead spot.
IIRC, only Atlas makes a 25 degree crossing, so that's probably what you have.
It helps to ensure good power to all eight tracks either by tightening the joiners or soldering all of the joiners to make a solid connection with the other tracks. If it still exhibits problems, it might be a defect with the crossing itself.
Also, make sure the rails are clean. Wiping them with alcohol or mineral spirits to get all of the schmutz off is a good start.
- Douglas
DoughlessIIRC, only Atlas makes a 25 degree crossing, so that's probably what you have.
I think that you are correct, at least as far as the major brands. PECO's Code 75 and Code 100 "Short" crossings are oh-so-close at 24°, but it wouldn’t be a drop-in replacement -- there would need to be some rework of the rest of the Original Poster’s layout.