03-16-2018, 01:32 AM
Well, finally some small progress to report. I've cut 10 or 12 wires (whoever wired this didn't have a clue what they were doing 
), and finally managed to isolate the upper level. Not all of those cuts were thought to be related to the upper level, and I haven't yet figured out how close I have to go to the original power source, as I'm trying to break it down into separate districts.
With the old transformer clipped to the rails any normally live rails on the upper level, I can run a test loco on all of the tracks on the upper level, with normal responses. This doesn't, however, include the upper staging yard, which is powered by a separate wire from below, but I'm quite confident that that area will perform just as well once isolated. So it's definitely not the new ballast work at fault.
That leaves the lower level, which I thought I had isolated with all that snipping, but apparently not, and the main, single level. The kill-able tracks in both of the latter areas all work as they should when the electrical switches controlling them are in the "OFF" position, and the old transformer clipped directly to those rails. If the transformer is attached to the non-killable rails which feed that electrical switch and the switch turned "ON", the locomotive reverts to "creep" mode, with little speed or throttle response, indicating that the problem is located in the track that's always live when the CM 20 is turned on. There are a lot of areas of such track, interspersed between those switch-controlled sections. Much more yet to do.
Wayne
), and finally managed to isolate the upper level. Not all of those cuts were thought to be related to the upper level, and I haven't yet figured out how close I have to go to the original power source, as I'm trying to break it down into separate districts.With the old transformer clipped to the rails any normally live rails on the upper level, I can run a test loco on all of the tracks on the upper level, with normal responses. This doesn't, however, include the upper staging yard, which is powered by a separate wire from below, but I'm quite confident that that area will perform just as well once isolated. So it's definitely not the new ballast work at fault.
That leaves the lower level, which I thought I had isolated with all that snipping, but apparently not, and the main, single level. The kill-able tracks in both of the latter areas all work as they should when the electrical switches controlling them are in the "OFF" position, and the old transformer clipped directly to those rails. If the transformer is attached to the non-killable rails which feed that electrical switch and the switch turned "ON", the locomotive reverts to "creep" mode, with little speed or throttle response, indicating that the problem is located in the track that's always live when the CM 20 is turned on. There are a lot of areas of such track, interspersed between those switch-controlled sections. Much more yet to do.
Wayne