I need to add a correction regarding my comments that you need to power the turnout from all three directions. It actually depends on the manufacturer. Peco Insulfrog, I think yes. For Atlas, I think the turnout actually transfers power across the frog. But it is highly recommended that you power from all directions. Don't rely on me to get it right. Do your own investigations.
This was a very interesting and helpful video for me. I need to use this investigative technique on my Kato track. I am redesigning my layout and I do have some issues with my #6 and #4 switches. Thanks for sharing. Dave
Thanks Dave. I never thought anyone would describe it as "interesting". It was a pretty boring day of filming to watch locos go back and forth. Glad you found it helpful
Stalled or shorted ? I find Athearns wheels to be a little on the "fat" side, and as a result some times picks the edge of the opposing current rail going through the frog and shorts the decoder which causes the stall. I've had this issue with Peco and Athearn RTR's. Clear nail polish on the rails just a few MM past the frog and it seems to of solved the short.
Thanks for the comments. If I can push the loco to get it going again, then stalled. A short would trigger the circuit breaker and shut down the whole system. But still something else to look out for.
I'll second that. Two athearn locos do a sparkshow on my large radius peco insulfrog. No other locos have this problem. Thanks for confirming that the nail polish works. Will do that now
I had a problem with the peco uniforg, I left the frog feeder wire as it came from the factory, it shorted to small track feeder under the switch. I move then frog feeder to side or parallel to the track, fix the shorting problem.
You are correct when you state that the Atlas switch does not stay in place without a motor like a tortoise to move and hold them in place Of course you can use Caboose hand throws to move the points but then you still have the problem of unpowered frogs. Using a Tortoise machine you can use the contacts to power the frogs. In my opinion this is the way to go to prevent stalls on long frogs or with short wheel based locomotives Happy model railroading. 🚂
I usually will not leave a bad comment BUT, you cannot expect any loco to run on improperly wired track, I run 98% steam locos from short switchers to longer main line, from various mfg including BLI,, old Rivarossi and TRIX, I also use atlas,peco and walthers and never have a problem! OH wait my track is wired correctly, and long frogs are powered per the directions. Atlas switches will never work correctly without some sort of mech to hold the points in place, wether there snap swtch and snap relay,or caboose,hobby, or a switch machine, Peco and walthers have a spring built in which is easy to remove when you put in switch machines, If you want to bash turnout makers and Loco Mfgs try fixing your wiring first. the trains will thank you
These types of problems are one reason I think that eventually motive power with onboard power supply will become wide spread in MRRing. The advantages are no track wiring, no power zones etc. The disadvantages. Continuing to run after derailments. Running time per charge and charging time. Also the means of charging. Wired charging from the track in a special section? Wireless charging? Another down side is compatibility between conventional and dead rail layouts. Solutions. Derailments and continuing to run. Some sort of circuit between the rails the engine is on? On the no track wiring. You are still looking at wiring for turnouts, block detection, signals and accessories. Powered turnouts could be avoided with manual throws
You should have no stalls with those big locos, only one truck is over the frog at any time. So I think is a wheel cleaning issue. I always power my frogs and use peco electro frog modified according to the instructions at the back of the box
I have a video about a BLI locomotive I received new that would not run. I think there were some comments on that video about the low quality of their locos. Out of my four BLI locos, one did not work when arrived new. Was I just unlucky? I also think they are more prone to stalling due to electrical conductivity issues compared to the other manufacturers I have. If I want to find my bad track, I run a BLI loco around the layout. In fairness, they are steam locos and therefore have more complicated engineering issues than diesels. I do not have any of their diesels. That said, I have a BLI N&W 2-6-6-4 that actually runs really well.
I have this same problem with my two Broadway engines, horrible design whatever they do. I was able to fix it easy though by installing keep alive by tcs. I guess it was a problem because now they make them themselves.
My view is that you are running them on an unfixed piece of track and also too slow.. we all know that engines no matter what piece or type of track will stall out at some instances.. why not just run the engine at the faster increment that gets it through the point/turnout.. why are you soo worried or into how it will run on incrument1... sheesh most engines on increment 1 will not move at the best of times let alone go through a set of points/turnout with parts that are insulated... Also, the manufacturer's card that each point/turnout is shipped with when new (we can all use Google to find out the info for second-hand item wiring configurations) informs you how to wire up the piece of track for maximum connectivity usage. These ones you are showing do NOT have the correct wiring and I am sure that if you actually wired them correctly then the results would be more in favour of the engine running through the point/turnout without an issue... Why bash the manufacturers when you yourself have not done what they recommend.
I need to add a correction regarding my comments that you need to power the turnout from all three directions. It actually depends on the manufacturer. Peco Insulfrog, I think yes. For Atlas, I think the turnout actually transfers power across the frog. But it is highly recommended that you power from all directions. Don't rely on me to get it right. Do your own investigations.
This was a very interesting and helpful video for me. I need to use this investigative technique on my Kato track. I am redesigning my layout and I do have some issues with my #6 and #4 switches. Thanks for sharing. Dave
Thanks Dave. I never thought anyone would describe it as "interesting". It was a pretty boring day of filming to watch locos go back and forth. Glad you found it helpful
Stalled or shorted ? I find Athearns wheels to be a little on the "fat" side, and as a result some times picks the edge of the opposing current rail going through the frog and shorts the decoder which causes the stall. I've had this issue with Peco and Athearn RTR's. Clear nail polish on the rails just a few MM past the frog and it seems to of solved the short.
Thanks for the comments. If I can push the loco to get it going again, then stalled. A short would trigger the circuit breaker and shut down the whole system. But still something else to look out for.
I'll second that. Two athearn locos do a sparkshow on my large radius peco insulfrog. No other locos have this problem. Thanks for confirming that the nail polish works. Will do that now
I had a problem with the peco uniforg, I left the frog feeder wire as it came from the factory, it shorted to small track feeder under the switch. I move then frog feeder to side or parallel to the track, fix the shorting problem.
You are correct when you state that the Atlas switch does not stay in place without a motor like a tortoise to move and hold them in place Of course you can use Caboose hand throws to move the points but then you still have the problem of unpowered frogs. Using a Tortoise machine you can use the contacts to power the frogs. In my opinion this is the way to go to prevent stalls on long frogs or with short wheel based locomotives
Happy model railroading. 🚂
I usually will not leave a bad comment BUT, you cannot expect any loco to run on improperly wired track, I run 98% steam locos from short switchers to longer main line, from various mfg including BLI,, old Rivarossi and TRIX, I also use atlas,peco and walthers and never have a problem! OH wait my track is wired correctly, and long frogs are powered per the directions. Atlas switches will never work correctly without some sort of mech to hold the points in place, wether there snap swtch and snap relay,or caboose,hobby, or a switch machine, Peco and walthers have a spring built in which is easy to remove when you put in switch machines, If you want to bash turnout makers and Loco Mfgs try fixing your wiring first. the trains will thank you
These types of problems are one reason I think that eventually motive power with onboard power supply will become wide spread in MRRing. The advantages are no track wiring, no power zones etc. The disadvantages. Continuing to run after derailments. Running time per charge and charging time. Also the means of charging. Wired charging from the track in a special section? Wireless charging? Another down side is compatibility between conventional and dead rail layouts. Solutions. Derailments and continuing to run. Some sort of circuit between the rails the engine is on? On the no track wiring. You are still looking at wiring for turnouts, block detection, signals and accessories. Powered turnouts could be avoided with manual throws
You should have no stalls with those big locos, only one truck is over the frog at any time. So I think is a wheel cleaning issue. I always power my frogs and use peco electro frog modified according to the instructions at the back of the box
You said, "Typical Broadway Limited, it stalled." Are Broadway locos known as poor-quality products?
I have a video about a BLI locomotive I received new that would not run. I think there were some comments on that video about the low quality of their locos. Out of my four BLI locos, one did not work when arrived new. Was I just unlucky? I also think they are more prone to stalling due to electrical conductivity issues compared to the other manufacturers I have. If I want to find my bad track, I run a BLI loco around the layout. In fairness, they are steam locos and therefore have more complicated engineering issues than diesels. I do not have any of their diesels. That said, I have a BLI N&W 2-6-6-4 that actually runs really well.
I have this same problem with my two Broadway engines, horrible design whatever they do. I was able to fix it easy though by installing keep alive by tcs. I guess it was a problem because now they make them themselves.
use caboose ground throws and the switch will not move.... you should understand this before you give advice on switch problems
My view is that you are running them on an unfixed piece of track and also too slow.. we all know that engines no matter what piece or type of track will stall out at some instances.. why not just run the engine at the faster increment that gets it through the point/turnout.. why are you soo worried or into how it will run on incrument1... sheesh most engines on increment 1 will not move at the best of times let alone go through a set of points/turnout with parts that are insulated... Also, the manufacturer's card that each point/turnout is shipped with when new (we can all use Google to find out the info for second-hand item wiring configurations) informs you how to wire up the piece of track for maximum connectivity usage. These ones you are showing do NOT have the correct wiring and I am sure that if you actually wired them correctly then the results would be more in favour of the engine running through the point/turnout without an issue... Why bash the manufacturers when you yourself have not done what they recommend.