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Hello,

I am having difficulty running my MTH engines through my Ross Custom Switches.

I have a pair of left hand switches, O-72s, connected together giving access to an inner loop run, and then another pair of right hand switches connected together, returning/connecting the inner loop run back to the outer loop.

The problem is my engines stop and turn off when they are running between 5-10 smph right in the middle of the connecting arms of the switches.

When I tilt up the engines, both rollers are on the center(power)rail.

The rails have been cleaned and the volt meter reads 19 in most spots.

I say most because sometimes,  I may have a 0 reading in a  small area, and that is between the engine’s rollers.

I am looking for help and suggestions.

Thank you all in advance and look forward to your insight.

Rich92126F87-29C9-4674-A98A-191A5C9F4C469D041106-F39F-4090-ABB4-45822F23E1A5

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  • 92126F87-29C9-4674-A98A-191A5C9F4C46: Engine shut down
  • 9D041106-F39F-4090-ABB4-45822F23E1A5
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Thank you Bob and Hokie 71 for responding.

I do not have power on the short segment between the switches. The short segment is actually the ends of two switches connected together. I do have a power connection between the two sets of switches on the longer segment of track which is on the inner loop. There is also a power connection just past the outer loop switches and one about 2 feet before the switch connection; both connection are on the outer loop.

Both loops are connected to a MTH Z4000 with wire drops at approximately every 6 feet to a MTH terminal block.

I do not know what “phased” means. I am still very new to wiring on a larger, more permanent layout.

Thank you again.

Richard

It sounds as if the turnouts were not wired properly and that a jumper wire is needed.

We have quite a few Ross turnouts and wired all of them. Once you figure out how they work it is pretty easy to check them out. There should be wiring diagrams on the website.

Call Steve at Ross and he will help. He is great to work with.

John is correct on the numbered turnouts. They work flawlessly in this application.

The first thing to check is if the track is ross ready, easiest way (if you can pull it up....) is to look underneath, if you see wires underneath rail to rail, it means it was wired ie ross ready (I always order mine ross ready, the extra 10 bucks or whatever is worth not having to wire more...). If not the instruction sheet or on the ross website they have a diagram of how to wire it.

A question for others, if you use 072 for crossovers, do you need to do what they recommend for #6 crossovers and use a relay like a dz1008 to power the frog?

The only place I've needed the relay is for the Ross Double-Slip switches and the curved switches.  The Ross Regular (100/101) and the #4 switches work fine for me without any switches.  I do have a couple of O72 switches in my layout, those also didn't need any relay.

Thanks, GRJ. Ross recommends it for the #6 if doing a crossover (which I have 2 such on my layout that is literally a slow boat from China) so I will be using them, even if I prob don't need it, it is my version of 11 on the amp *lol*.

The issue I see is that all your outer rails are broken by plastic frogs except for the one rail that goes past the station. Even with ross ready switches, I'd be dropping power feeds everywhere (at least between each pair of switches) in that section of track, to avoid the very problem you have now. I think you just have too many breaks in the rail continuity for the power to make it everywhere.  



Are both loops on a single transformer handle? If not then insulate the center rail in the crossover. You dont want to double feed it.

If you're using 2 transformers then you do need to check the phase (does the AC wave go "up or down" first). If theyre opposite, then they're "out of phase", but if they're out of phase, you usually get an arc welder (double voltage), not a zero.

Last edited by Boilermaker1
@bigkid posted:

Thanks, GRJ. Ross recommends it for the #6 if doing a crossover (which I have 2 such on my layout that is literally a slow boat from China) so I will be using them, even if I prob don't need it, it is my version of 11 on the amp *lol*.

Obviously #6 switches will work fine, they just take up a lot of space.  I used the regular switches and #4's at various places for crossovers.  The double-slip switches are also based on #4 switches.  I do actually have one #6 switch in my configuration, that's in the lead-in to the freight yard.

Here's one of the crossovers using the #4 switches, I also inserted a short straight run between them to maintain the desired track spacing.  Since the curves on this loop started right next to the switch, I had to trim a couple inches off the end of each of these to fit them into this loop.  Everything I have, including the large articulated locomotives, navigate these without any issues.

Ross #4 Crossover

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  • Ross #4 Crossover

Rich,

Here is what may be happening if you do not have Ross Ready switches (pre-wired).  If you have Ross Ready, ignore.  On Ross Ready switches, all these rails are connected to other rails with power (probably).

The area of the yellow arc has no power for the front truck, so only the rear truck would be getting power.  If for some reason you are not showing voltage (volt meter) between the center and outside rail your train will stall.

You stated you have already checked this, but just a reminder that the whole center rail between the switches would need a power drop since they are not connected to anything.

Again, all this is only if your switches are not fully Ross Ready.

Dead rail

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  • Dead rail
Last edited by CAPPilot

Good evening to you all and thank you for taking the time to help me with my switches. I now have a better understanding of what is happening on the switches. I believe the switches are RossReady.E3AAFD8B-9DC3-49C8-9387-D39A5288FC53
I can see where there are issues with the power breaks in the rails due to the frogs. (Thanks Boilermaker1) Both loops are on a single transformer handle.
What does insulating the center mean, and how is that done? And why?

CAPPilot, where the yellow arc is on the switch, this has been the constant issue, especially for the larger/longer engines.  I can see, and understand, what is happening, or in my case, what isn’t happening.

After viewing gunrunnerjohn’s picture of his #4 switches with a short straight between them, I think this would be a better option for me to work with on this area of Duffy’s Cut, my layout. I can definitely find another use for the turnouts in the future elsewhere on the layout.

What I am trying to learn and figure out next is how to wire all the switches to one main control board.

Any insight and suggestions how to begin?

Rich

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  • E3AAFD8B-9DC3-49C8-9387-D39A5288FC53

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