What kind of turnouts are you using? You may have a problem with certain power-routing turnouts if they are not isolated past the frog.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I'll have to agree with Rich on this one. If the feeders were crossed, the moment the power is on, it will short out... A diagram would certainly be helpful...
Cheers,
Frank
Without a track plan, we are left to speculate what your layout looks like and how you are approaching the wiring process.
It sounds as though you have completed the track work and are now wiring it to the bus. If that is the case, and if you are certain that there is no reverse loop or reversing section, then the short is occuring because of mismatched wires.
So far, the feeder wires that you have connected from the rails to the bus have provided electrical current and you are able to run a loco on the powered track. Now you install a set of feeders on the next section of track and a short occurs. That tells me that you have reversed the feeder wires. What happens if you reverse those two feeder wires?
Rich
Alton Junction
Thanks for the help. This is a new layout that I am wiring, and the section in question is not part of a reversing loop. It shorts out as soon as I connect the inside rail to the bus, or to another piece of track. The outside rail connects just fine. I have kept a loco on the track powered up as I went attaching my feeder wires, with no problems until I hit this one spot. Some other posters have mentioned insulators??? What are they referring to?
Is this a new layout that you are wiring or an existing layout that you are converting from DC to DCC?
The symptoms that you describe very definitely suggest a reverse polarity problem, either caused by a reverse loop or wires crossed and out of phase.
Just was through this. Check an insulator that has gone bad and see if one of your drops is the wrong color, I found both!!!!!!! Best way I have found to check for shorts while you are under the table is to put a couple of alligator leads to the track and run anything they will power (motor or light, etc), on mine I run a train at slow speed and if I connect a wire wrong, it stops instantly).
I agree with Brad.
Elmer.
The above is my opinion, from an active and experienced Model Railroader in N scale and HO since 1961.
(Modeling Freelance, Eastern US, HO scale, in 1962, with NCE DCC for locomotive control and a stand alone LocoNet for block detection and signals.) http://waynes-trains.com/ at home, and N scale at the Club.
It would be helpful if we had a track diagram or photo(s). I am assuming the track is electrically isolated at the joint in question, which leads me to think one of two possibilities. Either you have a reversed wire/switch somewhere, or you might have a reversing section or loop.
Brad
EMD - Every Model Different
ALCO - Always Leaking Coolant and Oil
CSX - Coal Spilling eXperts
I am at my wit's end with a short circuit problem on my layout. Any help will be appreciated. I have a fairly large layout that I am wiring for DCC. My bus wire is 14 gauge. 20 gauge feeder wires are soldered to the rails every 3 feet or so, and connected to the bus with "suitcase connectors". Everything is color-coded. The wiring was going along smoothly, until I hit one particular section of track....short! The loco stops the minute it hits there. The track piece was actually hot to the touch. I replaced the track section, but the minute I connect the rails, short! I can see the inside rails sparking when they touch. I've double-checked the wiring, and it all looks good. Any ideas as to what else could be causing the short circuits? I've disconnected all the wires on the other side of the layout from the short. Thanks!