MrBill Wrote:With my current "micro" layout, and it's very short sidings, I wind up at times with extra cars in front of the loco (and over a switch) during an inglenook game. Since the prototype doesn't use kadee centering spring couplers, I guess the 0-5-0 nudge isn't so bad after all.

Well,in that case a coupling/ uncoupling on a switch certainly helps.

Brakie Wrote:...Here is 2 #4 C-Ls(right/left) with 2 50' boxcars and as we can see there is no issues. ....

Larry, I agree that look fine to me. I can not recreate the situation but the #4 looked awful when I did the very first testing on my layout and I bought a new set of #6. Live is a mystery :o

Reinhard,I don't understand the mystery myself..Your #4 looks much sharper then mine and both are C-L 4s.. :?

I always wanted to build a ISL that would use a #8 switch but,never had the room for a Godzilla size ISL and been stuck with Mark III or C-L #4 and the sharper 543s..I built one small (1X6') ISL using "snap" switches and I'll never will do that again..It was to limiting with 4 axle switchers and 40' cars.

Okay, I have ordered 3 of the 4 turnouts!

Now I have begun thinking about the foam I will be using, I have two options:

-Extruded foam: my nearest store sells sheets in 2.5 inch, 2x8 sheets for $20 I will need three, but I will have alot left over, total price is $60

-Expanded foam: Sells in 2x4 sheets for $7 each, I know most people don't like this kind of foam, but I only really need the foam for pinning down track and scenery items. I will have to shrink the layout abit, but it will be alot cheaper and will waste less.

Once I get the track I will make a new thread

I was thinking about the #4 turnout issue - having a layout up at 50+ inches probably helps with the aesthetics, as you can't see the harsh angles as in a top view. As an example, my layout is set at 58 inches and uses Atlas CL #4s. What I gain is longer yard tracks and longer spurs. I think this is a good trade-off as long as we're using 50 footers and GPs. Now, on a lower layout with a more bird's eye view, the #6s may be warranted.

Justinmiller171 Wrote:-Extruded foam: my nearest store sells sheets in 2.5 inch, 2x8 sheets for $20 I will need three, but I will have alot left over, total price is $60

Justin;

If the purchasing department can come up with the funds, I'd go with the extruded foam for sure. What little excess you may end up with can always be used for some other purpose. Not sure why you'd have to reduce the length of your layout using the expanded (beaded?) foam, but I'd steer clear of that.

Doing a little test on a piece of the expanded (beaded) foam that I have here, I found that it won't hold track nails very well. At least not as well as the extruded foam does, if you're planning on testing out different track arrangements. And those little white beads seem to pop off of it if you look at it cross-eyed.

Will be looking forward to your new thread when you get all your materials and get started with the layout.

FCIN Wrote:If the purchasing department can come up with the funds, I'd go with the extruded foam for sure. What little excess you may end up with can always be used for some other purpose. Not sure why you'd have to reduce the length of your layout using the expanded (beaded?) foam, but I'd steer clear of that.

Doing a little test on a piece of the expanded (beaded) foam that I have here, I found that it won't hold track nails very well. At least not as well as the extruded foam does, if you're planning on testing out different track arrangements. And those little white beads seem to pop off of it if you look at it cross-eyed.

Will be looking forward to your new thread when you get all your materials and get started with the layout.

Thanks Ed

My order is expected to arrive Thursday, I will try to tape down the track to get a good idea of how it will look.

In the meantime I have been starting to think that there is still a problem with my engine, everytime I clean my test track the engine will run good for alittle bit, but after about 2 trips across the test track it begins stopping and starting alot, even in idle it will occasionally lose power and start up again. tomorrow I will try and take apart the engine again and see what the problem is.

Justinmiller171 Wrote:In the meantime I have been starting to think that there is still a problem with my engine, everytime I clean my test track the engine will run good for alittle bit, but after about 2 trips across the test track it begins stopping and starting alot, even in idle it will occasionally lose power and start up again. tomorrow I will try and take apart the engine again and see what the problem is.

I'm really puzzled as to why you seem to be having so much trouble with your NW-2 (I guess that's the one you're talking about). I've had mine a lot longer then you've had yours and it has always run great right from the first time I ever operated it. I use it frequently and have never had any stalling or other issues with it.

Is your test track brass or nickel silver and what do you clean it with? Don't use any sort of abrasive such as a Bright Boy or even fine sand or emery paper, as that will pit and scratch the rail, causing it to oxidize and accumulate dirt very quickly.

My next question would be are you running any cars with the loco on the test track that still have plastic wheel sets on them? You'd be surprised just how much dirt and grime will accumulate on those plastic wheels over time and running the car will get the track dirty very quickly. I used to see that happen when all my cars had plastic wheel sets - clean the track - run a train or two, then run your finger over the rail and it's dirty again.

I just wipe my rails with either 70% or 91% alcohol on a soft cloth and it seems to stay clean enough to eat off of, no matter how much I run an engine over it or which engine I use. I've never tried it or found any reason to do so, but a lot of folks like to put a tiny drop or two of Wahl hair clipper oil or even transmission fluid on the rail and let a locomotive spread it around on the track, to improve electrical contact.

You may not have to take the loco apart, but just look for things like hair or dirt on the trucks and at the contact points like you found before. Pull the side frames off the trucks if necessary. You can clean that off with alcohol too or even spray contact cleaner (available from Radio Shack). If you find that sort of stuff in the trucks again, then the next issue is determining where it's coming from and eliminate the source.

Worse case: It may be a loose wire or wire that is making intermittent contact on the decoder board. If worse comes to worse, you may have to send it to BLI to have them check it out and make any possible needed repairs.

FCIN Wrote:

Justinmiller171 Wrote:In the meantime I have been starting to think that there is still a problem with my engine, everytime I clean my test track the engine will run good for alittle bit, but after about 2 trips across the test track it begins stopping and starting alot, even in idle it will occasionally lose power and start up again. tomorrow I will try and take apart the engine again and see what the problem is.

I'm really puzzled as to why you seem to be having so much trouble with your NW-2 (I guess that's the one you're talking about). I've had mine a lot longer then you've had yours and it has always run great right from the first time I ever operated it. I use it frequently and have never had any stalling or other issues with it.

Is your test track brass or nickel silver and what do you clean it with? Don't use any sort of abrasive such as a Bright Boy or even fine sand or emery paper, as that will pit and scratch the rail, causing it to oxidize and accumulate dirt very quickly.

I tried both, the brass actually seemed to work alittle better, but I am sure that is just because It was still it its box, I have never used any abrasive cleaner

FCIN Wrote:My next question would be are you running any cars with the loco on the test track that still have plastic wheel sets on them? You'd be surprised just how much dirt and grime will accumulate on those plastic wheels over time and running the car will get the track dirty very quickly. I used to see that happen when all my cars had plastic wheel sets - clean the track - run a train or two, then run your finger over the rail and it's dirty again.

I just wipe my rails with either 70% or 91% alcohol on a soft cloth and it seems to stay clean enough to eat off of, no matter how much I run an engine over it or which engine I use. I've never tried it or found any reason to do so, but a lot of folks like to put a tiny drop or two of Wahl hair clipper oil or even transmission fluid on the rail and let a locomotive spread it around on the track, to improve electrical contact.

I only use the nw-2 on the test track, I clean the track with "lens wipes" they are small cloths pre-soaked with 70% alcohol.

FCIN Wrote:You may not have to take the loco apart, but just look for things like hair or dirt on the trucks and at the contact points like you found before. Pull the side frames off the trucks if necessary. You can clean that off with alcohol too or even spray contact cleaner (available from Radio Shack). If you find that sort of stuff in the trucks again, then the next issue is determining where it's coming from and eliminate the source.

Worse case: It may be a loose wire or wire that is making intermittent contact on the decoder board. If worse comes to worse, you may have to send it to BLI to have them check it out and make any possible needed repairs.

I have noticed that when I run the engine at slow speed the problem gets worse, the most troublesome point seems to be right before the engine comes to a complete stop, I am still puzzled as to why the engine would lost contact, and then regain contact when it is idle.

Well I'm at a lose here myself. I gather from a couple of your earlier postings that when this happened before and you cleaned out some hair and gunk from the trucks that it ran okay after that. So perhaps that has happened again and it will be an easy fix. Could also be that something has made its way into one or more of the gears on one or both trucks that is causing it stall or bind at slow speeds. If that's the case, and cleaning everything fixes it; you'll just have to figure out the source of where this stuff is coming from and eliminate it.

If that isn't the problem this time, then you might want to email BLI customer service and tell them the problem and see if they can suggest anything for you to do; even send it to them for repair. It is under warranty for a year. Since it looks like it will be a little while before you actually start laying your track and testing out your plan, it shouldn't hurt to do without the locomotive for a couple of weeks.

You can certainly lay out your track; hook up the good old DC power pack and test it with another locomotive until this one is repaired. I know that engine was a big expense for you and it would be a shame for it to end up on the dead line. They are very good running locomotives.

One other little thing ...... Have you done a reset of the locomotive? I don't know if you've experimented much with setting different CV's on your engine, but at least do a reset and see if that makes any difference. Just remember to remove the power after doing the reset and wait a few seconds before firing it back up. You never know with this DCC stuff.

Oh yes, one other little thing. After doing the reset. Set CV 3 and CV 4 each to a value of 15. It adds a little momentum and I've read that it also cures some issues that some of the decoders in BLI (and other) locomotives may have. Here's a thread you can check out for a little more info: http://forum.atlasrr.com/forum/topic.asp..._ID=14593&

I think I may have fixed it for now, I found some "goop" on the connectors that take power from the wheels, I also went over the track again with a dry paper towel and removed some that black stuff and it now seems to be running fine.

Well we need to figure out where the goop is coming from! Happy to hear that it looks like you've cured the problem.

Do you have a dog or cat in the house? I frequently find Yorkie hair on my clothes around here, but so far none of it has made its way in to any of the engines I run. You might have to shave the little rascal (just kidding...)

Here's my prefer way of dealing with troublesome locomotives.I clean the wheels,wheel contact strip and commutator with 91% alcohol I then spray the contact strips and commutator with TV channel turner cleaner.I clean track with 91% alcohol on a clean rag(I buy gun cleaning patches) and use a bright boy as needed.

I also agree with Ed.Reset the decoder to the default settings.

Justin, are you using brass or nickle silver for your test track?