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What kind of engine is it?
How many cars are you pulling? When I was a kid I used to run my whole layout on one lock-on, and It worked until I got some bigger locos. If you can run another set of wires to the back curve and see if that improves your situation. If you have a multi-meter, check the voltage at the curve. I saw some areas as low as 12v on my childhood layout. Patrick "Tell me, what do you do besides lure men to their doom on the 20th Century Limited?" |
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That MTH transformer is more then enough to do the job. I would look at the connections on that Atlas track. Check to see if there are little dimples on the joiners. When Atlas first came out with their track system there was this kind of issues because the joiners where smooth.
You may wont to run a couple of more power terminations on your loop. Keep On Tracken, Mario E. |
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There isn't one particular engine that won't make it around. I have used a Plymouth switcher, a PEnnsylvania TMCC engine and some others and I get the same problem. I don't know if its the connectors becuase I replaced some of the track or else I moved it around.
When talking about adding power terminations, what type of wire should i buy for my layout from Lowes? |
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it could be the track. check each one for power loss.
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I am also upgrading tranformers to a MTH Z-4000.
How do I check for power loss? Would running a passenger car across it with lighted interior work? |
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CCrider
Off topic do you do custom graffiti work on rail cars? How can I e-mail you. Thanks Sorry for being off topic. |
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sure.my email is koresh369@yahoo.com..............you can see my work by clicking on my links below.
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CCrider...where did you learn that graffiti?
Only kidding (LOL) “A freight train with 100 cars traveling 50 mph can take a mile and a half to stop in an emergency situation. That is 20 football fields long.” |
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It was either Rich or Jim who recommended a power drop every three sections of track. Any less than that, and your power loss will be evident.
Jon 
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You should have no problem powering a simple loop of that size with an MTH Z4000.
If your Atlas track still has the blackening on top of the center rail, I would recommend polishing it off the top surface of that center rail with a track cleaning eraser, followed by cleaning the track with track cleaning fluid. Then check the rail joiners to make sure all are secure. The somewhat newer Atlas joiners have a small dimple on the joiner that helps to keep things tight. Those are the joiners you want to use. On a loop that size, you should not need power feeds every few feet to assure good operation. I sure don't use them and my layout is a bit larger than what you described and also has several passing sidings. Allan Miller, Editor-In-Chief O Gauge Railroading magazine |
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With atlas track I run drops about every 12-15ft. Atlas uses even longer drops at their demo at York. I suspect you may have bent a few joiners when assembling your loop.
========== one other thing someone else may know is how many amps does a blue comet set draw? Most transformers only give you 80-90% of rated power. At 16 volts you would have only about 5+ amps. With smoke, lights and distance that may be pushing the upper end. ========= For consistent results I burnish the center rail ends on bottom to remove blackening. Also use conductive grease for joiners. Bill D |
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My test track is 11x17 and runs reasonably well with a single lockon. At one spot I was getting serious slowdown issues, so I pushed my K-Line voltmeter car into the problem section. I also use a MTH Z-1000.
What I found was a nearly 4-volt drop over one of the joints (this is tubular track). I pulled up the track, and found a loose center-rail pin. After tightening up the connection, buffing the pin, and whisking a round needle file inside the female ends of the joint, I reassembled and...problem solved. You may need to check both sides of each joint with a voltmeter. Considering the size of you loop, you may have two bad joints, resulting in a section with drastically lowered voltage. ---PCJ |
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Yeap, I have to agree with everyone here...
1) You have one or more issues with your track. 2) Your transformer is having some type of issue. I have a 10 foot loop with a Z-1000, even pulling a line of lighted cars, I don't have any slowdowns. -LV  |
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AS of 2 weeks ago I was able to run two trains off the same transofrmer pulling a bunch of cars with no problem. Then all of a sudden one day there are problems with gettig them around the track. Thats what prompted me to tear it apart and try and restart but that didn't work.
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Get a cheap AC voltmeter. red to center rail, black to outer rail. measure at lockon then every few feet around the track. You will quickly find the power drop. Work back section by section. once you find the drop, move one probe at a time across the joint. The one that brings the voltage up is the bad rail joint.
Mark it & Keep going on around, look for another sharp change in voltage. it's a second bad joint. 2nd (or more) bad joint may not exist but I'd expect at least 2 from your description. Russell Russell   |
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it is most likely the rail joiners, we had to solder all of them on our subway loops. any kind of movement of the track streched the joiners open and causes your problem. a poor system in my opinion.
John S (0773H non rompere la mia palle ) Ocean County Society of Model Railroaders http://ocsmr.com NJ Hi-Railers www.njhirailers.com TCA Member |
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Power question: If you have a very large layout and experience voltage drop, when you add more lock-ons, with the additional positive power wire run back to the transformer, do you also need to run another negative wire back to the transformer also ? Or running a long single positive wire under the layout and poping up every feet to attach to positive rail, do you need addition negative wire feeding back to transformer from each additional point ? Didn't know if the electricity needs the same length of negative wire to return to power sourse.
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You should always run BOTH the positive and negative back to the powersource. The power drops should be done every three feet of track, regardless if sectional track or continuous. This will guarantee a healthy power suppl;y to your train with minimal resistance loss at best.Don't bee cheap or take short cuts with the wiring. that's your veigns of your RR and carries the pulse of electricity to keep the whole layout running! Also note a good point is you should keep the negative wire tied to the same outer rail so in the future if you want your trains to operate acessories, you have the "other outer rail" to insulate and use as a control rail.
I suspect from the original poster of this thread there is only one power drop in his whole loop.  He need to have a minimum of two and quite possibly three power drops if running a pax train w/ light bulbs plus an AA set of twin motored diesels. One should NOT rely solely on the pins or joiners for connectivity of the whole layout I been to that School of hard knox class several times in my younger innocent days. Even though atlas O is made out of Solid nickel Silver, just like our HO bretheren, the Nickel silver still oxidizes and can create a resistance in conductivity to affect performance from the farthest spot on the layout.[But still should not be this bad]IT' 90% the SIMPLE things that are overlooked and cause problems in the LONG run... like too minimal power drops. Without a picture, I can't be 100% sure. member: TCA |
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It is not the length of track that determines how many power drops (or lockons) you should use. It is the number of track joints. You should put a power drop every 3 to 5 track joints.
..... Dennis Motor City O-Gauge Railroaders I'm retired. Now I work at being a pain in the butt. |
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It also depends on the kind of track you are using...
Charlie a.k.a. MichRR714 TCA 08-63090 Motor City O Gauge Railroaders Glancy Trains Modular Group LRRC |
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Well the original poster is using atla sO track. so what do you mean by your statement? member: TCA |
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I added an additional power connection and it worked great, the train is now going all the way around and I let it run for an hour with no slowing down. I play on adding a 3rd to the loop this week and that should also improve performance.
On another note, I got my Z-4000 and it is amazing. |
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Hello
I am still relatively new to model trains. I am having a hard time getting a train to complete a loop. I have a MTH z-4000. My outer loop surrounds another loop, which too, surrounds another loop. Totally 3 loops I have piece milled the layout with various sizes of Fastrack. Does that matter? What is a power drop off? How many power connects should I have? and where should they be place? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks Richard |
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Glad you found your troubles. Do not sell the MTH Z-1000 short. I have a L shape 12x11 layout and my Z-1000 will run anything I own, including 2 duel motored engines and needs less voltage at the track to do it than a Lionel KW or LW Transformer.
Rob |
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I use 2 terminal strips for each rail line, hot power lead from transformer connects to 1 strip, all connection points on that strip tie together, and track feeders run to all 3 sides of switches and every 6 pieces of Fastrack regardless of length of track on runs between switches. 14 gauge wire from transformer to terminal strip and 16 gauge from terminal strip for track feeder wires to center rail of layout. Same as above for common lead from transformer common to second terminal strip and track feeder wires connect to outside rail for common. No problems at all on power feed around the layout, I use .110 female insulated quickcrimp connectors. I crimp & solder wire to connector, slip onto Fastrack male track connector and solder that, results in foolproof connector that doesn't fail. I then wrap or liquid tape the soldered connection joints to prevent any shorting out under the track or plywood. All 120 volt power units all have their own power switch to shut off when not in use plus a master switch to shut everything off at once all protected by a outlet surge protector. Do it right the first time, no shortcuts mean no worries or problems
Sincerely, Gary P |
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Gary,
I am just getting into wiring with terminal strips. How do you get the power lead to power all connections on one strip? I understand how to run the power wire to the terminal and then run a wire to the track, but if I want to wire it like you are doing, how do you power all the terminals on a strip? Thanks! If at first you don't succeed....don't try sky diving. Tim |
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The power gaps can happen on Atlas O Track where there are switches.
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