Newcomer Layout Advice

[penno]

hi folks. i am very new at this hobby allthough i hve been very interested in it

for many a year. 3 weeks ago i finaly took the plunge and purchased my first train set the virgin pendolino i also bought some additional tracks. the first thing i did was to put together the basic oval track layout that was supplied with the set and things seemed to be working fine, so i decided to branch out a little with the extra tracks now things are going a bit pete tong i put in two sets of point within the oval track layout in order to send the loco through the middle of it.the loco starts off ok but then stops . just stops. i have checked all of the track for loose joints but all are solid it always  seems to happen when the points are opperated to send the loco through the middle but on close inspection they seem to be ok with good contact. anyone got any ideas?

[Howbi]

Hi Penno.  I assume your layout is DC and not DCC.  What is happening is a short circuit when you throw a point because as the track runs across your oval on the diagonal you are effectively joining the outer line from one corner to the inner line of the opposite corner thereby conflicting positive and negative. This will cause your controller to shut down until you clear the short by resetting the points. If however your layout is like a circle and an oval then you need a second power feed to the inner circle as the points are cutting off the current when set to the inner circle. Ensure you match positive & negative to same as oval.

There is a solution and one of the resident experts will no doubt post some advice tomorrow. HB

[poliss]

 See the section about Reversing Loops on Brian Lambert's website.

http://www.brian-lambert.co.uk/Electrical%20page%202.html#Reversing

[2e0dtoeric]

A photograph or a sketch of the track would help, include where on the track the power is connected from the controller.

You say you have put in two points so the train can run across the middle - but that's a bit vague. We need to know if this just makes a smaller circle, with the train going in the same direction, or whether you have made an S bend, so the train ends up going the other way.

If the S bend is what you have done, then Howbi's comment is probably right.