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I have two left hand switches forming a cross over between looks of track.  When my PS 3 engines go straight around either look they hesitate while going through the switch.  If I go slow through the switch (straight) the engine stops completely and shuts down.  Any suggestions would be much appreciated.  I just got done removing the switches, cleaning them and putting them back, but nothing has changed.

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  • My bad crossover.
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Thank you.  I will definitely check that.  I so appreciate any help here.  I will add that two different engines do the same thing and they do not do anything on any of my other 4 switches.  It is very odd.  I hate to replace a switch, just to have this continue to happen.  My thoughts (likely uninformed) were directed toward some kind of issue that is internal to the switch.  But the same thing happens with both of the switches that are connected to one another.  The issue only happens from the left to the right, never when travel is from right to left.

Put a voltmeter on the center rail at various points on the crossover, other lead on an outside rail.  Realtrax switches use a printed circuit under the swivel rails to transfer power from the points side center rail to the frog side center rails.  A lockon on one side of the switch and a derailment on the other side will fry a trace on the circuit board powering the center rails.

I want to sincerely thank everyone who responded to my issue regarding power loss while going trough a Realtrax switch.  It drove me nuts.  I finally gave in and bought a new switch and things now look OK.  By the way, I had a hard time finding a witch.  MTH products seem to be disappearing.  I am really sorry to see that.

You should still jump power across turnouts rather than through on most turnouts since prewar Lionel.

Then the small traces or other contacts, only have a heavy draw on them for a split second. Wire does a much better job than steel, rivets, etc., at passing power; so let it pass around and tap for it vs thru

As is, you seem to have addressed a problem, but not the cause or prevention

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