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Reply to "5122/5121 Switch Tracks"

You obviously know what you are doing, to work on those switches. Have you ever run the Polar Express on 027 track before? My guess is that the chassis of that engine is too long and that something - wheels or roller pick ups - is shorting on the swivel rail of the switch, causing a momentary short, and thus the change in direction. Same goes for the tender depending on the style of the roller pick ups.

And those Madison type passenger cars are better suited for 031 curves, even though during the MPC years, they did come in sets with 027 track. But maybe the trucks are different now. I know Lionel is using a vertical spring mounted roller pick up on their newer cars with die cast trucks versus the plastic snap assembly still being used on cars with plastic trucks (and once used with die cast rolling stock trucks also). I've had some random trouble with these newer vertical spring mounted pick ups getting caught on switch tracks. And I'm using 027 track too.

As another observation, I run mostly smaller, shorter types of engines and rolling stock. But I do have some no-no track configuations, like "S" curves and switch tracks placed right off curves. And once in a while, I encounter an engine that runs good  over the whole layout except in the other direction, and then gives me trouble on one single switch track.

In those cases, I'll run the engine real slow though the culprit switch and see where the short is happening. And then I use a small piece of electrical tape to cover the one place where a wheel or roller is making contact with a rail it shouldn't be hitting.

 

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800-980-OGRR (6477)
www.ogaugerr.com

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