I keep thinking about this issue. If it were a problem with intermittent electrical contact, it would exhibit failures on the non-turnout portions of the layout as well as on the turnouts, or so you would think.
Since it only occurs on the turnouts, is it the turnout itself or some problem with the loco? Since it happens on 95% of the turnouts, and only with this one loco, that seems to rule out the turnouts.
So, there is something wrong with this loco. Jarrell has tested the front and rear trucks for power, and he assures us that it is not the problem. There is power from both the front and rear trucks. So, it seems fair to conclude that it is not a stall.
That leaves an electrical short as the likely problem. It only occurs on or near the frog, and Peco Code 100 turnouts are infamous for shorts on the closely converging rails adjacent to the frog.
Jarrell has checked the wheels with an NMRA gauge and they are perfectly in gauge. However, shorts can still occur with perfectly in gauge wheels, depending upon the amount of lateral movement of the particular wheelset.
Depending upon the position of the locomotive on a turnout, either the tread or the flange of the wheel can make contact simultaneously with both of the converging rails. It all depends upon how close the two converging rails are, the extent of the plastic insulation that separates the two converging rails, and the extent of the lateral movement of the wheelset. That would also explain the intermittent nature of the short.
If I were a betting man, at this point, I would put my money on an electrical short at the point where the rails converge.
Rich
Alton Junction
Well, tonight the loco... for the first time..did the stall trick on a area of track not related to a turnout. I have a section of Atlas Flex track running across a bridge, I haven't installed bridge track there. When the unit got to where the temp bridge track and the permanent track joined it stalled. It must have been across that section 35 to 40 times without a hiccup, until then. I've never had any locomotive have a problem there.
So, I'm giving up on it and I'm going to see if the shop I bought it from will exchange for something else or give a refund. I don't trust Walther's Proto GP 30's anymore... :)
I appreciate everyones advice and help.. I really do!
Jarrell
Wow, didn't see that coming. Bummer.
Keep us posted, Jarrell.