11-28-2009, 11:08 AM
Does the club layout use "dead frogs" on turnouts? Is the club modular? At the modular club that I belong to we have joiner tracks located between modules that are not hard wired to the busses, just relying on rail joiners to make connections. If the rail joiners are loose, steam engines and short diesels will stop on the joiner tracks. Sometimes they will start again on their own and sometimes they need an 0-5-0 nudge to keep moving. Our club does not use the NMRA standard for modular construction although modules built to NMRA standards can be used. We require a 2 inch set back in stead of a 4.5 inch set back on tracks at the end of the module. That allows the use of a 4 inch long joiner track instead of the 9 inch snap track that NMRA standards allow. We have found that most diesels down to an Sw will bridge the joiner and pick up power continuously. A dead frog or even a short length of joiner track with loose connections could cause your problem. If it worked before, but has problems now, it could be that a rail joiner that was tight before has loosened up. The other thing to keep in mind is that dcc is much less forgiving of short circuits than dc. A brief short that a dc loco will go through and keep running will stop a dcc layout. One of our members has a brass diesel; and, found that if the track was at all uneven, the pilot would touch the rails and short everything out.