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A fine mess I've gotten myself into

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  • Member since
    January 2005
  • From: New Milford, Ct
  • 3,232 posts
Posted by GMTRacing on Monday, March 25, 2019 5:55 AM

Thank you for the responses. I will do a track diagram and get that posted as soon as I can as I'm on the road for the next week. 

   I looked at the drops again and cannot see a fault in either main so I concentrated on the yards. The classification yard all works. Seems to work was misleading, I don't get any stalls or short lights in there at all. It is isolated from all the rest and has its own circuit on the breaker.

   I found turnout position on one end of the service yard affected the locomotive running to prove the tracks. Since the PECO turnouts are power routing, throwing the points to remove power allowed the locomotive to continue up the throat but only to the gaps for the service yard. I could hear the breaker reset in the locomotive so at that point I shut everything down and went back to checking drops and continuity. I did find a simple mistake at that point as I had two entrances to the service yard from opposite sides of the loop of track around the yard. That set up a reverse polarity issue. Oddly running into the area didn't light the short LED on the PSX. Since I didn't have the PSX/AR for the turntable hooked up, I hooked the service yard to that AR and could then enter the throat from the previous place of reverse polarity . I still have something else going on and will next time recheck continuity in the power routing turnouts and recheck drops to the buss though those are fairly simple. The gaps for the service yard show no continuity so that is correct. Is there anyway to actually check polarity on the track? When I laid out the mains, I checked and proved everything one section at a time and thought it was correct. The issues seem to be around the service yard now.   Thanks again for the advice.   J.R.

  • Member since
    September 2004
  • From: Dearborn Station
  • 24,281 posts
Posted by richhotrain on Sunday, March 24, 2019 9:30 PM

GMTRacing

Either yard is entered from the lower main line from a common throat. There the throat divides into the classification yard and the service yard. The classification side seems ok, but the service yard is giving me fits.

All the tracks seem to be wired ok, the gaps are by cuts and insulating joiners both and with the power off, everything is isolated from the rest of the layout.

When a locomotive enters the throat, it will stall when it enters the service yard lead. No breaker lights go on but once the whole thing shut off and reset.

Sometimes throwing turnouts seems to change things but not the dead stop on yard entry. 

A track diagram would definitely help here. 

My first question relates to the PSX-AR. Where is the reversing section in all of this?

You say that the classification yard "seems OK". Is it OK or isn't it OK?

You say that a locomotive will stall when it enters the service yard lead. Will it "stall" or is it the result of a short? 

You say that sometimes throwing turnouts seems to change things. "Seems to"? How so? Does the problem occur on the turnout?

We need to know more here, and you need to pin down the problem more definitively. "Seems to" is too vague and uncertain for a precise analysis of the problem.

Rich

 

 
 

Alton Junction

  • Member since
    May 2010
  • From: SE. WI.
  • 8,253 posts
Posted by mbinsewi on Sunday, March 24, 2019 7:37 PM

Maybe just do a very careful, one wire at a time, look at your bus, and feeder connections.  

Yea, I know, "All the tracks all seem to be wired OK".  Maybe not?

Mike.

  • Member since
    July 2006
  • From: Sebring FL
  • 842 posts
Posted by floridaflyer on Sunday, March 24, 2019 7:22 PM

Does the loco stall on turnout or on a regular stretch of track?

  • Member since
    December 2015
  • From: Shenandoah Valley
  • 9,094 posts
Posted by BigDaddy on Sunday, March 24, 2019 7:19 PM

Your link seems to be something on this site, perhaps the Community Photo Galleries, but we can't see it.  I think we are going to need a pic.

GMTRacing
Sometimes throwing turnouts seems to change things but not the dead stop on yard entry.

What changes?

Henry

COB Potomac & Northern

Shenandoah Valley

  • Member since
    January 2005
  • From: New Milford, Ct
  • 3,232 posts
A fine mess I've gotten myself into
Posted by GMTRacing on Sunday, March 24, 2019 6:32 PM

I have been unable to sort out some odd electric gremlins on my layout. As backround, it is medium size with 4 blocks protected by an early PSX 4 and a pair of PSX AR, one for auto reverse, the other to a turntable (unconnected at this time). Operating system is an MRC Prodigy Advanced 2 and an MRC 8 amp booster. Track is Atlas code 100 with PECO Insulfrog turnouts unmodified. The layout has two blocks for a mainline half of which rises to an elevated section while the rest is at surface level. I have two yards side by side one for rolling stock, one for sercice with a turntable, roundhouse and backshop. I have busses for each section, and that seems to be where the problem arises. I have an unfindable short between the two "mainline" sections. That doesn't seem to make any difference in operations. The issue arose when I finished and hooked up the yards. Either yard is entered from the lower main line from a common throat. There the throat divides into the classification yard and the service yard. The classification side seems ok, but the service yard is giving me fits. All the tracks seem to be wired ok, the gaps are by cuts and insulating joiners both and with the power off, everything is isolated from the rest of the layout. When a locomotive enters the throat, it will stall when it enters the service yard lead. No breaker lights go on but once the whole thing shut off and reset. Sometimes throwing turnouts seems to change things but not the dead stop on yard entry. I am at a loss as to what to do short of unsoldering the drops from the buss wires one at a time. This is my third layout since I got back into this but only my first DCC setup. Any Ideas would be greatly appreciated.   Thanks in advance.   J.R.

overview of layout

 

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