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But i can only get certain sections to run. So far the yard you are looking from runs to a point where the Mountains and tunnels run. Another siding (looks like it had been prepared for an addition) is ran off it's own power pack.
The Mountains and tunnels have not shown signs of life at all yet, but im not familiar with the 8 terminal block.. i looked up somethings to help me but it hasnt worked, and this is the mainline. Here's a diagram of what the electrical looks like underneath,
The weird part to me is the yard which is connected to the 8 terminal block runs until its hooked up to the terminal too, am i doing something wrong?
Zowie! where to start?
1 Do you have any insulated rail joiners? They are made of plastic.
2 Is there a specific reason you have to have 2 power packs? (maybe 1 for the yard and one for the main)
3 Can you make a rough drawing of the track plan? Doesn't have to be to scale and can be single line drawing (just showing 1 rail of the track)
and we can start with that
Some trackage Seems to be a bit of a climb for a 4 X 8
Cheers Willis
Well, i didnt make it myself. i got it 2nd hand like i said.. there are some insulated joiners, one between the addition and mainline, and one between most of the yard and the mainline. most of the mainline seems to be wired in the tunnels. should i wire just the mainline to one power pack?
here's the closest thing to a trackplan i have right now. the red dots mean insulated joiners that i know of. sorry for the size
everything that runs out/in a tunnel is all wired through the 8 terminal block. i cant get any power to any of those rails for some reason, including the one yard track with the green boxcar emptier (anyone have a clue on how to get these boxcars/loads? http://www.ho-scaletrains.net/tycoactionaccessories/id43.html )
It's really hard to tell but the fact there's at least one set of plastic rail joiners indicates the previous owner wired the layout into power blocks. It's also possible that some of the switches may be power routing. Only the direction the switch is thrown will have power. The other direction will be dead so that's one thing to check. Since there's two power packs, he probably had the track isolated into blocks so he could run two trains at once. That power block should have had some electrical switches wired to it so they could be thrown to power the blocks. Do you see any hanging wires or wires that have been cut? Tracing down what was done without a schematic can be a challenge. It's sort of a weird track plan from what I can see, with some significant operating flaws but, for free, let's see if we can make it work.
Looks like you have your work cut out for yourself . I would get a power tester and start trackcing down what has power and what doesn't and write it down as you go along . If you don't have one you can get a cheap one and start from there . Good Luck
Yeah, I agree with Paul, don't just start ripping things out until you get a better understanding of where the voltage is going. Use a voltmeter, crank up the power pack to max, and then find out what sections have power. If you only have one power pack, hook it up to that other set of wires you have labeled as that blue power pack (or red, if it's already hooked up to wires). Make a diagram of what sections do and don't have power and note any place that has either insulated track joiners or has gaps cut in the track because that's where the power should stop and start. Once you know all this, then we can decide on what to take out or add to get power to the whole layout.
that is a nice stater layout there you got for free...good for anyone! take your time in learning you will get it and dont give up these guys are real good at helping out just be patient, you will be up and running in no time...
Another question before we go any further.
There seems to be a lot of tracks covered by the mountains. Tracks have to be cleaned, so can you access those tracks for cleaning.
That's quite a track plan, I agree with the rest don't tear it down, it may take a little time but I'm sure it will be working soon.
oh i wasnt going to tear it down, just replace some joiners..
right now everything is electrified!
turned out the one plastic joiner from the yard has another underneath the mountains. right now im doing some extreme cleaning on it, and wiping the clean ones after im done.
I've got it set up so i can run a loop from the yard past through the mountains the siding with a plastic joiner..will any major damage occur if i leave them running on the same power source?
Also the track with the joiner to the crossing and the upper track of the mountain run on another power pack. could it have been a bad terminal? i tried this setup on there but it wouldnt electrify past the terminal..
None that I can think of.
I'm wondering if the 2 nd power pack was for a second loco working the yard while a another train was doing loops around the main
More than likely it is. Those terminal tracks depend on the rwo surfaces touching, It's possible the contact area where they touch may have become oxidized. The oxide acts as an insulator preventing current flow to the track.
Most of the members here solder drop wires to their tracks for good electrical contact.
Good job, Shaun. I'm sure the previous owner had it set up just the way you though, having one block and transformer for the mainline and onether bock and power pack to work a switcher in the yard. Like Willis said, you won't damage anything by running everything on one pwoer pack on such a small layout. As far as the part where you still can't get power, it's either a bad terminals or you may have a bad rail joiner. Once again, the easiest way to "track" things like this down is with a voltmeter. If you don't have one, you can get a cheap but usable one at Radio Shack for about $10.
Wow!, Free is always good.
I'm just learning about the pains of powering my tracks so i will not be of any help there, just wanted to check out the pic now so I'll have one to compare to the finished layout later, keep up the good work, looks like you'll have a good start there.
The guys here are experts and I'm sure will help you figure out your wiering woes.
I'm guessing the previous owner had the layout wired in blocks to support dual cab control. I'm wondering if Shaun needs the electrical switches to get all the blocks working correctly? Like the Atlas Selector switch.
That would let you run two cabs on the entire layout.
the weird part is only a few small sections are blocked off. and for somereason when i connect one from the yard/tunnel just to run one train it shorts the entire layout. thats where my problem has been with the terminal im guessing, i have just that wired seprate and it runs nice besides the grime..just gotta get my hands on a bright boy
the weird part is only a few small sections are blocked off. and for somereason when i connect one from the yard/tunnel just to run one train it shorts the entire layout. thats where my problem has been with the terminal im guessing, i have just that wired seprate and it runs nice besides the grime..just gotta get my hands on a bright boy
alright, right now it all runs on one power pack! woo!
theres one problem though. this one track with insulated joiners at each end always stops and kicks back and forth..you kinda have to speed then kill power quick enough so it passes the joiner. is there anything i can do?
also an X over with this line involved seems to stop with the rear wheels in the middle..
alright, right now it all runs on one power pack! woo!
theres one problem though. this one track with insulated joiners at each end always stops and kicks back and forth..you kinda have to speed then kill power quick enough so it passes the joiner. is there anything i can do?
also an X over with this line involved seems to stop with the rear wheels in the middle..
