4X8 Suggestions appreciated

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Hathaway Browne said:
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Left = Train on sectional track, just before the switch (you can see the gap in the ties between the two). Switch to the main. Train can run straight on over switch. All is good.
Right = Train in exact same position, switch flicked to spur. It all goes quiet - even the whine stops. No movement at all.
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Where is the power connections on these pictures?

If they are fed from the rails at the bottom of pic and they are insulfrog turnouts then you just need to add more track power feeders.

Ken.
 
NZR Mac is right. I believe they are fed from the straight portion at the bottom picture. This is normal with insulfrog turnouts. This is a left hand turnout. When the left hand turnout is thrown for the locomotive to go left, power is cut. The turnout needs additional feeder wires somewhere on the left turnout side after the frog or have feeders where the locomotive is setting.

Not having power to a section is fine if you want to park something there.
 
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HB, those are good questions. Where is the ower track in relation to the switch? If the power track is after the the switch, the mainline and the diverging route will go dead because you create a short as soon as the points are thrown. Make sure you have power going to track on both sides of the switch and to the diverging route and see what happens then.
 


The power track is just out of shot attached to the straight end of the switch. So if I read that right it should be at the opposite end?
 
As shown in the picture above with insulfrog turnouts, add feeders to the tracks where the locomotive is presently setting, also at the bottom of the picture (where I believe they are already attached and somewhere on the left diverging curved portion ahead of the frog. It doesn't have to be right next to the turnout, but somewhere past the left turnout. This way all rails are powered. If the locomotive takes the left turnout, there is power to all rails behind, regardless if the turnout is thrown be the locomotive.

I have never had problems with my Peco code 83 insulfrog turnouts with a crossover (crossing from one track to another track). This must be a polarity issue.
 
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^Thanks, but I attached both power tracks to the switches and nothing happened at all.

I feel like starting from scratch again, but I don't know what good it'll do other than waste money. I'm really regretting tearing down my old layout. Sure no train could make the curves, but it had power.

I've got the scenery all worked out in my mind, but it seems like I'm never going to get there.
 
When you say switches do you mean the turnout? can you draw a diagram or take a photo of where you put the power?

Looking at the above photo, put power to the tracks at the bottom of the pic, say your wires are black and white. black on the left rails and white on the right rails. on both the diverging route and the straight route.

Ken.
 
NZRMac said:
When you say switches do you mean the turnout?
Click to expand...
I get confused as to what they're actually called, switch, turnout, points...but yes - the thing that makes the train go from one side to another.

NZRMac said:
can you draw a diagram or take a photo of where you put the power?
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Here's the current formation. Different to the previous photo as I've connected the crossover.
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As you can see I've connected one part of the wire to one side and other to the other. But nothing happens.

The previous photo had the power track after the switch/turnover which gave it power until the switch was flicked.
 


NZR Mac is right. You need two wires going to your rails; a black wire on the left rail and a white wire on the right rail. Follow this sequence through your entire layout. I use red on the right rail and white on the left.
 
HB, you need add the additional wire. You just add another red wire it the control station terminal and another white wire. You connect these additional wires to the power terminal tracks, so there's a set of red and white connected to each power terminal track. The color of wire doesn't even matter, just make sure the same color goes to the same side of each terminal track.
 
So I take two bits of new wire, attach them to the power track, and join them together with the wire that comes from the power pack (and repeat)?
 
No, you run two more wires for the controller all the way to the terminal track You should have two sets of wires, one that goes to the first terminal track one that goes to the second terminal track. For testing purposes, both terminal tracks should be behind the point side of the switch. If they are in front of the switch, you'll get no power as soon as you throw the points since no power will be able to get through the points on the mainline.
 
Ken has it right. You cut off the plug and strip the two wires and insert them to the two terminals at the top of a terminal block, like the one Ken has in his post. You can now run as many wires as you need to different power terminal tracks. This is something you'll have to do eventually anyway so might as well do it now.
 
Thanks for the tip. I'm not sure I want to start cutting wire though, plus I can't see how that can connect to the controller.

I think I'm just going to have to put down the track, crossover and all with power just going to the outside until I can get another controller for the inside line, as I need to get some progress made on the layout.
 


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