I setup a relay on my friend's layout to control a station stop and change the aspect of an associated block signal.
There is a dead track at the end of the station that gets energized when a train passes on the adjacent track.
The adjacent track has an insulated section that controls a 24V relay with a separate power source. When the relay operates it provides power to start the passenger train and changes the block signal from red to green. The stop start operation is flawless, the PW ABA holds the relay up solid and the passenger train starts every time. The problem is that the relay is fluctuating as various freight cars roll over the insulated control track. This causes the signal to keep flipping from green to red. I thought that it was a case of dirty wheels; but cleaning them thoroughly didn't help. One of the men thought that maybe the fast angle wheel sets weren't providing enough contact surface. To prove the point he took a PW gondola that had some dirt on the wheels and moved it over the control track. The relay stayed up and the lights stayed on. So now we are thinking that a capacitor across the relay winding would smooth out the momentary opens.
Your thoughts and suggestions would be appreciated.
