Short loco stops on fastback girder bridge

[copeia]

Hi,

I'm new to forum. Finding way around.

Short steamer stops/stalls on Fastrack girder bridge. Long diesel slows as leaves bridge.  Hardwired bridge to transformer.  Short loco almost crosses with sparking, still stops. Obviously did something wrong or didn't do enough right things.  Would adding busbar help? Need help.

Bob

[KRM]

Could you fill us in on what Short steamer and Long diesel you are using as well as the Fastrack girder bridge part number, It could help a lot.

TKS,

[copeia]

Hi,

Can't find box for fastrack girder bridge.  Bought last week.  Will visit hobby shop after lunch tomorrow.  Opens noon to 5 to get number.  Will have other info then.

Thanks.

 

Bob

[copeia]

Hi,

The steamer is a 240, cab no. 8302, part of a Lionel Fundimention Southern Express freight train set, the long diesel is a MTH Rail King NW-2, cab 1050 and the FasTrack girder bridge is 6-81248.

Bob

[KRM]

I can't see any reason anything should slow down or stop on that bridge. I don't have anything MTH so I can't talk to that, I would make sure the track connections are tight into and out of the bridge. Maybe spray the connections with some CRC 2-26 elect lube and see if that helps.

Let us know how it goes.

[dougdagrump]

Sounds as though the section of track on the bridge is not receiving any power. The pick-up rollers on the NW-2 are probably far enough apart to receive power from the tracks leading onto and off the bridge but the steamer they are to close together.

Please define "bridge hardwired to transformer". Depending on size of layout would determine number of power drops / busbar.  

[copeia]

Hi,

 

The 4x8 layout is the 4x6 Gold Hill Central by Kent Johnson without the passing siding and a spur which I found inTrack Plans for Lionel Fastrack by CTT. The bridge is snug with its adjacent pieces of FasTrack and can be substituted for with a 10" straight section of FasTrack, then everything runs well. Hardwired may not be a good descriptive term. I meant only that besides a wire going from the transformer to the terminal FasTrack section, there was an additional hot wire from the transformer soldered directly to a tab of the middle rail of the bridge.  When that didn't work very well, I soldered a ground wire to one of the outer rails thinking a circuit would be completed better, quicker etc. That's when there were several sparks when using the 240 to try to get it to cross the bridge. As suggested, a conducting substance may help the 240. Perhaps both outside rails should be connected by a busbar as is done on some of the other pieces of FasTrack. Tried bending the bridge middle rail pins but that didn't seem to work.  Don't want to bend pins too much. They can break. Of course, I could just go back to a regular FasTrack straight but I like using the bridge. Lionel seems to have put some thought into its design.

 

Bob

[lionelsoni]

The CRC 2-26 is a dielectric and is not conductive.  It is useful for retarding corrosion that might increase resistance.  If the bridge is fairly new, that is unlikely to be a problem.

Perhaps there is some coating on the rails left by the manufacturing process.  Try cleaning the rails, but not with any abrasive that would damage the tin plating.

[copeia]

I don't see or feel a coating but definitely will try cleaning. I'll also add a busbar today and see what happens.

Thanks.

[copeia]

Hi,

Cleaning helped. I wiped off a dark gray film. I thought I would always easily know when it was time to wipe off track .... again. 

THANKS. 

Bob

[lionelsoni]

Great!  I'm glad to hear it.

[phrankenstign]

When you stated, "Cleaning helped", did you mean the problem is solved, or did you mean the problem remains, but isn't as pronounced as before?

[copeia]

The 240 will now cross the bridge four out of five times.  Sometimes when it crosses the bridge it will stop somewhere else on the layout as sometimes will the NW-2. I think I need to add a second terminal track to the layout opposite the first one. However, next I want to wipe all the track as clean as I can and make certain my turnouts are in working order. That is, go back to square 1.

Too, I do not understand why some sections of fastrack have busbars linking outside rails and other sections don't. I would like to understand that before I go too much further with the layout, just to know what is going on in the background, so to speak. 

The comments I have received are much appreciated.

Bob