Ken-Oscale posted:JFC454 posted:Dug through the tubs of old Fastrack I have in the basement and set up 4, O72 Fastrack switches and some 30" straights. Powered a temporary test track with a 180 W Powerhouse. Checked the voltage readings to make sure they were within a few 1/100's of a volt everywhere. With the engine running through the track at crawl speed, the tender cuts out on both LH switches when it goes through a diverging route. The tender does not cut out when going through the RH switches. I thought maybe the wireless link was the trouble. However, when I push the tender by itself through the switches with the power on, the sound cuts out on the LH switches at the same spot, but not with the RH. I think I have two issues. I think there is something wrong with the pickups on my tender that is causing the behavior difference on LH and RH Fastrack switches. I see the same behavior with Atlas O72 switches. I have one LH and 2 RH. Sound only cuts on on the LH one. The other problem of the pickup roller spacing being so short probably can only be fixed with a keep-a-alive product like GUNRUNNERJOHN has made.
Thanks for reporting the results of your tests. I am planning a layout with Atlas-O (another thread) with #5s, and #7.5 turnouts, and was concerned about my track choice. I guess I had better purchase a couple and test my existing locos before committing to Atlas-O (Ross/Gargrave looks like my 2nd choice).
As information, our entire layout was Atlas O, solid nickel silver rail track system. There were two Lionel articulated models (both SP locomotives, the JLC cab forward #4294 and the JLC AC-9) that exhibited problems with various Atlas turnouts on the layout. I solved the problems by changing out the original equipment pick-up roller assemblies, and replaced them with Sunset/3rd Rail tapered pick-up roller assemblies. End of problems!
I had one MTH NYC L4b Mohawk (the one with the roller bearing rods), that would stop on virtually every turnout. Discovered that the model came with pick-up rollers ONLY on the engine, and none on the tender. I purchased an MTH pick-up roller assembly from the local hobby shop, added to to the tender, and spliced necessary pick-up wire into the correct "hot wire" inside the tender. End of problems.
