track problems

[railroaderSTL]

i have just layed my track down and ballasted before. i ballested i made sure i didn't have anything wrong with the track so i ran my engine around it to make sure no dead or derails..success.. so i ballasted my track and i test the engine again. my engine runs down one straight stretch then dies and won't run for both turns and the other straight run. i cleaned it and made sure no extra rock from ballast was on the track. But nothing happend to make it move futher down the track any tips? I model HO scale

 

[selector]

With a sharp metal object, slide all the joiners back and forth to restore contact....I think you have dried glue preventing metal-to-metal contact.  One thing to try is to slide the loco into the dead zone, and then press down at each of the joints.  At one of them, you will probably find the loco wanting to play again.  If DC, make sure you have some juice dialled in or the loco will not give you an indication that you have found the bad joint(s).

[doctorwayne]

I think that selector's diagnosis is correct.  Just look upon this situation as your opportunity to learn (or polish) your soldering skills.  I run DC, and solder all of my rail joints.  Others prefer to solder jumper wires around the joints, while still others prefer soldering feeder wires from each piece of rail to a pair of bus wires running beneath the layout.  The choice is yours, but the common bond between the three is soldering.

Wayne

[UP2CSX]

Yep, same thing always happens to me even when I have soldered joints. All it takes is some glue getting behind even a slightly bad soldered joint and no power. One of the things I have is two pairs of alligator clips with about a foot of wire between them. You can us them as a jumper from your last known good track to find out where the bad joint is, It's doable exactly the way Selector explained it but it's easier with some jumper wire and a voltmeter. You'll find all sorts of uses for the jumper wires and meter if you are an incompetent electrician like me.   

[tomikawaTT]

Yep, same thing always happens to me even when I have soldered joints. All it takes is some glue getting behind even a slightly bad soldered joint and no power. One of the things I have is two pairs of alligator clips with about a foot of wire between them. You can us them as a jumper from your last known good track to find out where the bad joint is, It's doable exactly the way Selector explained it but it's easier with some jumper wire and a voltmeter. You'll find all sorts of uses for the jumper wires and meter if you are an incompetent electrician like me.   

  You can pick up a bunch of the aforementioned alligator-clip jumpers and a multimeter at your local Radio Shack, and should get change back from a $10 bill.

Once you have them, you'll be amazed how many uses you will find for them.

Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - with permanently-soldered jumpers around all uninsulated rail joiners)

[jesrr]

   The same thing happened to me but it was after i painted the rails with a spray can. The paint got underneath the rail connectors. I had to take up the track and clean the rails and add new rail connectors. Now i am building a new layout and I will solder the rail connectors. Trying to learn by my mistakes.

[loathar]

Just curious. Did you clean any excess glue off the rail heads before you ran your trains?

This is the reason we solder rail joints and add feeder wires.

[jeffrey-wimberly]

i have just layed my track down and ballasted before. i ballested i made sure i didn't have anything wrong with the track so i ran my engine around it to make sure no dead or derails..success.. so i ballasted my track and i test the engine again. my engine runs down one straight stretch then dies and won't run for both turns and the other straight run. i cleaned it and made sure no extra rock from ballast was on the track. But nothing happend to make it move futher down the track any tips? I model HO scale

This is exactly why I solder ALL rail joints in each block, incuding turnouts.

[fsm1000]

I have a feeder wire to every single rail section on my layout. Whether it is an engine length long or 9 feet [my max I allow]. I never have problems once I clean my track.

 

I hope that helps.