Siding intermittant power

[BreatGritain]

Hello!

I'm a complete novice so please forgive the wording... I have a basic loop with two sidings. I have three loco's 

Virgin Pendolino

Thomas 0-4-0

"D6524"  (two bogies with 4 wheels each)

The issue occurs on all three locos

 

When I direct the loco into a siding, it gets so far then just stops over the points. If I place the loco on the siding away from the points, and throw the points so the siding is open, usually it works until something rolls over the points which breaks the circuit. The fix is to throw the point back and back again and the circuit is restored until the next carriage rolls over the point.

It seems like if something rolls over the point it vibrates and stops working. One of these points is brand new, installed yesterday.

I don't wan't to fit clips at the moment as I want to use the sidings to "park" the locos.

Can anyone kindly offer any advice as to why this might be happening? Or how I stop it happening?

 

Thank you

Tom

[Chrissaf]

The transference of power has to rely totally on the contact of the moving point rail against the fixed rail. It is a small contact area. This contact area has to be kept spotlessly clean (even a brand new point can have protective oils that can affect the electrical cleanliness). Brand new points can also leave the factory with poorly installed springs. The spring in the point is supposed to keep the moving rail in tight contact with the fixed rail but can lose its effectiveness over time. The alignment of the point motor can also be critical in ensuring close tight contact is maintained when thrown.

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If any of the above are at play here, just the act of having rolling stock running through the point can be enough for the moving rail to be jiggled and joggled enough for the electrical contact to be affected.

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1. Clean all the contact areas (sides of the rails) where the moving rails touch the fixed rails.
2. Use your fingers to see if there is any slight movement of the moving rails in the thrown position to check for the presence of a sloppy spring. Does the moving rail throw (using fingers and without point motor fitted) with a slight snapping action as a result of the spring.
3. Check the point motor alignment to ensure it 1) completes its full travel and 2) that it does not bounce back slightly against the point spring. The spring should never be removed when using Solenoid point motors for this very reason.

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[BreatGritain]

Thank you for the reply Chrisaff.

Theres a decent clunk/snap when moving the points by hand, and it looks like there is good contact, I think the spring is fine.

If I wobble the point, the spring snaps it back into place.

Whats the best way to clean the rails? Clean cotton bud?

Should the track be laid on anything? I have it pinned down directly to sheet wood (plus track mat). I have seen some people use a layer of sponge, could the issue be imperfections in the board and could a thin layer of sponge solve it?

Thanks again.

[Chrissaf]

Cotton Bud with a chemical cleaner is the efficient way of getting into all the nooks and crannies, given that there is only a small gap open between the rails to play with.

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Using the track mat is not conducive to keeping the track laid perfectly flat, particularly if the track mat has visible fold lines (ridges) in it. Personally, I would avoid foam (sponge) based underlay. However, I would try adding an additional track pin to the point in an area as close to the frog as you can get. A new pilot hole might need drilling subject to track pin type used. Many on here report that this additional track pin helps where locos are stopping on points.

[BreatGritain]

Chrisaff,

Your solution of installing more pins seems to have *ahem* nailed it.

 

Thank you!!

[atom3624]

Is your 'Thomas' green by any chance, or did you mean 0-6-0?

 

Al.

[BreatGritain]

I don't know what the 0-4-0 meant. I put it for effect.

 

He has a single bank of 4 wheels. I assumed thats what 0-4-0 meant?? Lol

[Going Spare]

Thomas could have only 4 wheels if he dates from the late 1990s.

[BreatGritain]

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[BreatGritain]

I bought it second hand, so I have no idea. It's in brilliant condition if it is over 20 years old. Runs great.

[atom3624]

My apologies.

 

Didn't know there had been an 0-4-0 Thomas produced ....

 

Al.