The Atlantic and Southern Build Thread Continued, Part 3

[ACL1504]

I hope the change fixes the short.

Curt,

I'm sure it will. Having the third level on its own power district should have been a no brainer for me but I'm a slow learner.

Tom

[ACL1504]

Watching trains race up and down the helix would probably make me dizzy...


dave

Dave,

When the Judge and I use the Ovalix, no problem. Watching Greg's trains on the Ovalix, well, that is an issue all it's own.


Tom

Aw.....fast freight and crack passenger trains are expected to travel at a certain speed.....after all, a railroad doesn't want to deliver spoiled food or carry cranky passengers! 

Greg,

You are a great sport for all our fun. I just want to remind you that I'm relentless in my pursuit of slow trains.


Tom 

[ACL1504]

We all hit snags, usually there electrical, I also find that getting away from it for a few days helps.  I usually come back and fix it in a couple hours after spending days spinning my wheels.  Keep up the great modeling.

John,

Yep, it does happen now and then. I'm currently on a long layout break.

Tom

[ACL1504]

Cousin Tommie,
For what its worth my friend Bob Parrish taught me to have the command center turned on while I lay track.  At first, I thought that was a bit strange.  However, if I accidentally create a reversing loop, it will notify me right away with it's short buzzer.  Maybe some of the new trackage on the third level did this.  Another thought is you might have a new switch on the third level which is shorting the railroad out. 

BTW, taking a break is always a good idea.

The Diet Pepsi swilling kid

Bruce,

I've never turned the DCC system on while working on the track or installing Tortoise machines. However, once a feeder is installed or a Tortoise is wired, I'll then turn it on and listen for a short.

Now, I'm going to have a few swigs of Diet Pepsi.

Tom

[ACL1504]

Cousin Tommie,
For what its worth my friend Bob Parrish taught me to have the command center turned on while I lay track.  At first, I thought that was a bit strange.  However, if I accidentally create a reversing loop, it will notify me right away with it's short buzzer.  Maybe some of the new trackage on the third level did this.  Another thought is you might have a new switch on the third level which is shorting the railroad out. 

BTW, taking a break is always a good idea.

The Diet Pepsi swilling kid

Bruces suggestion reminded me that I always connect a continuity detector  to the track when I'm working on it. My  Dad made it from a door bell probably 60 or 70 years ago. If I get my wires crossed it rings a bell. I always get a kick out of using my Dad's tools (many of them he made himself) when I'm working on the layout.

John,

Sounds like a great little gadget. I use the buzzer on the PSX  unit for basically the same thing but not while working on the track. If I've wired it wrong the buzzer won't go off until the system is on.

Tom 

[ACL1504]

My update for now is that I have no update. I haven't worked on the layout since March 21. I plan to get back to it later this month.

Well, I guess this qualifies as an update.

Tom

[Blazeman]

My update for now is that I have no update. I haven't worked on the layout since March 21. I plan to get back to it later this month.

Understandable. You've been going full tilt for several months.  Between the trip on 95 and going back to Diet Pepsi, maybe you're out of synch?

[GPdemayo]

Watching trains race up and down the helix would probably make me dizzy...


dave

Dave,

When the Judge and I use the Ovalix, no problem. Watching Greg's trains on the Ovalix, well, that is an issue all it's own.


Tom

Aw.....fast freight and crack passenger trains are expected to travel at a certain speed.....after all, a railroad doesn't want to deliver spoiled food or carry cranky passengers! 

Greg,

You are a great sport for all our fun. I just want to remind you that I'm relentless in my pursuit of slow trains.


Tom 

You may be relentless.....a few other adjectives do come to mind....., but I'm stubborn as heck in my pursuit for speedy delivery of passengers and time sensitive freight, besides, I do follow the speed limits in Tahope. 

[Bruce Oberleitner]

Hi Tom,
It was good to talk to you the other day.  I did some thinking about your electrical problem and I think this is being caused by having the two decks connected were each deck has a reversing loop.  That could create a case were the two decks to have a different polarity thus causing the problem.  I think if only one of the decks had a reversing section then this would have worked just fine.  Your idea of separating these into two zones should fix the issue.

Powered by Diet Pesi.

[ACL1504]

My update for now is that I have no update. I haven't worked on the layout since March 21. I plan to get back to it later this month.

Understandable. You've been going full tilt for several months.  Between the trip on 95 and going back to Diet Pepsi, maybe you're out of synch?

Larry,

Sorry for the late response. I haven't looked at this thread in some time now. Yes, I was going full steam ahead for quite a while.

Thanks for the comment and checking in.

Tom

[ACL1504]

You may be relentless.....a few other adjectives do come to mind....., but I'm stubborn as heck in my pursuit for speedy delivery of passengers and time sensitive freight, besides, I do follow the speed limits in Tahope. 

So you say.

Tom

[ACL1504]

Hi Tom,
It was good to talk to you the other day.  I did some thinking about your electrical problem and I think this is being caused by having the two decks connected were each deck has a reversing loop.  That could create a case were the two decks to have a different polarity thus causing the problem.  I think if only one of the decks had a reversing section then this would have worked just fine.  Your idea of separating these into two zones should fix the issue.

Powered by Diet Pesi.

Cousin Brucie,

I thoroughly enjoyed our phone conversation three weeks ago. I'm back on the wiring problem now and I'm sure the isolation of the two levels is the key to solving the issue.

I appreciate your comments and for checking in.

BTW, I'm back on the Diet Pepsi but only one per day.

Tom

[ACL1504]

Several weeks ago I was explaining the short between the power districts, actually between two levels.

Mike Carter, Madharry, sent me the following link to an article in MRR concerning this very issue. Very informative article and discussion on the subject. I read it twice.

Although this particular article was slightly different from my problem, I did gain some very valuable information from it.


http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/744/t/148370.aspx

[ACL1504]

I spent most of today, unwiring all the feeders on the third level buss lines. I also cut a gap on the ninth turn of the Ovalix and near the top/third level. This gap effectively separated the second and third level wiring.

As mentioned, the third level will be on it's own power district using a Digitrax DB220 booster. I programmed the DB220 this afternoon.



Tomorrow I plan to start rewiring the third level.

[PRR Modeler]

Good to see you back at it Tom.