Based on OGR member comments, I was able to isolate and fix the problem. 1st of all, I was able to determine that the Genset switcher ran just fine on three of the other four Lionel Powerhouse Bricks which have many blocks of power elsewhere on the layout. My layout is 21' X 39' so I have a lot going on. So then I started focusing in on the roundhouse track spurs. That's when the switcher goes wild - starts up by itself and takes off at full throttle so I knew something was going on in this area! As I was troubleshooting, I noticed that the lamps inside the roundhouse stalls were not on so I got side tracked to figure that out. I power the lamps by bringing 19VAC from a Lionel brick into a little AC to DC regulator to create a 12 VDC power source. In each stall, I have two un-insulated wires, from which the lamps hang, that run the entire length of the stalls (3 lamps per stall). In theory, this distribution strategy may create a large power plane above all of the stalls. When I went to check the input and output voltages from this regulator, I noticed that the heat sink on the output power transistor was really hot and the DC voltage was low. I replaced the regulator which got the roundhouse lamps lit up again. When I went back to troubleshooting the switcher problem, I couldn't get it to fail at all. I tried everything to recreate the failure but couldn't. I didn't have time to reinstall the defective regulator to see if it was the source of the problem but will get a scope on it tonight. I don't usually jump to conclusions but right now my feeling is the regulator may have been the source of the problem.
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