Hi! I'm brand new to model railroading and I seem to be having a power problem.
My layout is on a 5x9 sheet of plywood and is made of Bachmann EZ Track. I'm using 22" curves on both of the mainlines (the outter curves are seperated 1/2 way by a 9" straight track section). The two mainlines are connected by the Bachmann EZ Track left/right crossovers. I also have a couple of switcher tracks attached to the inner mainline to allow me a seperate track for non-active trains (in the future).
Right now, the 2 crossovers and the train on the track are only powered by one power supply. It's made by Spectrum (I think it's called the magnum?). For some reason my train is losing power in certain parts of the track. I've gone through and wiped down all of the track. It's all fresh out-of-the-box-new track. The train that I'm running on it is a DCC equipped engine. It's a 4-8-4 Berkshire. I ran it the other day just using the outter mainline (not connected to the inner at all) and it went around just fine. Now that I'm running it with all the track together, I have to keep the power up at 50 or higher just to get it all the way through the "dead zones".
If anyone has suggestions as to how to fix this, please let me know. Thanks!
Can you tell us how many places you have connections to the track(feeders)? sounds like you need a few more but need more info.
I only have one piece of 9" track connected to the power supply. I've only ever seen one connection to the track needed for layouts of this size. I'm guessing that I'm wrong now.
I suspect you have loose rail joiners between sections of your track. You can buy new rail joiners to replace the loose ones, but the real solution is to run a power bus under the layout and run feeders up to the track every few feet. If you are not comfortable with soldering, there are rail joiners with feeders pre-soldered to them, and there are various feeder to bus connectors(3M suitcase connectors are one) to allow solder less connections.
If everything runs fine at first, then trains slow down - You might be overloading the DC power pack. But based on your description, I suspect rail joiner issues.
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
Hi,
As Floridaflyer mentioned, your "power to the tracks" is likely to be the problem. No matter what scale you have or how large your layout, you need "feeders" hitting the rails every 5 feet or so at a minimum.
Your layout is a nice workable size, and what you can do is run a heavy gauge - 14 awg - wire from each of your powerpacks leads and run them the length of the layout.
From those "buss" wires, you connect smaller lengths and gauge (i.e. 20 awg or so) from the buss wires to the rails - so that in the end, every 5 feet or so of track has at least one set of power feeders.
That is very likely your problem. If you still have slowdowns or erratic running, it is likely due to poor track connections, dirty track, or dirty loco power pick up wheels.
Let us know how it turns out - there is always someone here to help you!
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
Jrbernier,
The trains run fine at first, and run fine on most of the layout. But there are a few areas on the track where they all slow down. Every piece of the track is new. I didn't buy any of them used. Is there a way to add more power to the tracks without having to do any major work to the layout? I'm still in the beginner stages of my layout (not sure if I want to keep it this way or not), so I don't want to do anything too serious.
I'm not entirely sure how to get more power to the tracks right now. I don't want to run wires all across my layout from one power supply right now simply because I'm not sure if I'm keeping the layout like this. I have a few more tracks that you can connect to the power supply. Would those work just as well?
I have had a similar problem, using a different brand of track.
What I found was that the turnouts don't carry the current through reliably. Putting feeders on the approach track and both diverging tracks for each turnout solved the problem for me.
Good luck
Paul
Well I've tried replying to you guys, but none of my replies are going through. Is there any way that I can just add another power track to another part of the layout and give it either 1) a separate power supply or 2) another wire leading from my power pack to the second power track?
anoles22I have to keep the power up at 50 or higher just to get it all the way through the "dead zones".
Your rail joiners are loose.
For a sound electrical connection, they need to be clean and mechanically tight.
New folks will typically bend or loosen then during the track laying process. Any slight wiggle or movement will stretch them to where they are not giving a good bite on the rail.
To confirm, run the train slowly into a bad area. Then jump across the last joiner with a jumper wire or pair of pliers. Check both sides of the track.
Another way is to take a screw driver and wiggle the joiner. If you find the bad one the train will speed up or if stalled it will run.
We built for my grandson a 4' x 6' Bachmann EZ Track layout, with 2 spurs, based on a Bachmann Overland DC set. We have power to the supplied power track and also to each spur (all via an Atlas selector), so he can turn off and on any section (e.g., he stores a spare engine on a spur). The power to the spurs in our case is supplied via solid conductor wires soldered to the rails. That requires some soldering tools and experience but is not tough to learn (the soldering gun is about $25). Alternately, a Bachmann power track to each section would not require soldering.
We also soldered some of the track joiners, namely the 2 half circles at each end of the layout. That was essential at one end where a hill/tunnel was to cover most of that half loop. It also minimized the number of rail joints (particularly in the mainline) that relied on the joiners. I thought we would likely solder more joints but all has worked rather reliably (with occasional track cleaning). I think I may have lightly glued the 2 end half loops to the painted plywood to minimize movement, but also the other track in our case seemed to stick slightly to the latex painted plywood.
My message is that issues can be simplified to troubleshoot or to prevent with using several powered sub-sections (with or without isolating rail joiners and a separate switch depending on whether you want to be able to turn them off/on) and/or making "sections" longer by some soldered joints (but not necessarily soldering all). Recognize that DCC is more touchy than DC, and track cleanliness and power ever 6' of track is usually important (you are running DCC?).
All this assumes you are not having a problem with slightly dirty track (and/or loco pickup wheels). With my DCC setup, I sometimes have problems that go away when I reclean the track and loco wheels. Of course, when in one place its more likely track cleanliness that is the problem.
Good luck, and ask more questions as needed.
Modeling HO with a transition era UP bent
I am running DCC engines. I am going to try and post my youtube link to a video with my layout. Maybe that will help you guys see what I'm dealing with. Thanks! :)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkU7lpS4THA
I made your link clickable for you.
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
It looks like you have most of your power issues ironed out if I understood the video correctly. Looks like you're using Bachmann nickel-silver EZ-Track which I have nothing against with the exception of the quality of the turnouts. I fixed all mine so they work properly. EZ-Track is all I use on my layout.
If I may suggest this you'll work out your power problems by running feeder wires every six feet and soldering your rail joints.
I have more of the power connection tracks, but I have no way to get the power all the way across to the other side of the layout. Any suggestions (without soldering)?
If you have connector wires for the terminal tracks you can splice more wire into them to make them longer.
How might I do that? Do I just cut and paste the wires together?
Cut the wire in the middle. Strip the cut ends. splice in more wire. Wrap the splices with electrical tape. You now have a longer wire.
I think I'll give that a shot. Just to make sure I'm understanding you correctly...I need to connect another (much longer) piece of wire from my power pack to another power track on the far side of my layout and that will help keep the power flowing through the tracks, right? Is there a certain number that I need to stop at? I've already got 2 power tracks connected to the power pack, and I have 2 more that I can add at various places.
You can connect as many as you like. I solder most of mine so they're virtually invisible. I have around twenty connections.
I just now saw that picture that was posted...I have 8 extra EZ track power connecters (the ones that go from the power supply to the track/accessories). Can I just take a few of those and splice them together to connect to a power track on the other side of the layout? It almost seems like too simple of a fix.
Yes, you can. Just make sure the polarity is correct. If you get a short just turn the connector over.
Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best.
Myself, I'm soldering every other joint, and leaving every other joint "loose" (unsoldered), to allow for expansion and contraction. I'm using 36" lengths of flex track, so I end up with 16 GA feeders every 6 feet, and an expansion joint every 6 feet. Overkill? Depends on your perspective, but if I ever have train that doesn't want to move, I have a reasonably good suspicion it *WON'T* be due to loose rail joiners.
Brad
EMD - Every Model Different
ALCO - Always Leaking Coolant and Oil
CSX - Coal Spilling eXperts
Ok everyone, thanks for the tips. I'm going to go give "splicing" a shot. Keep your eyes on this thread for an update tomorrow!