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Power Problems With Atlas Crossing
Ian writes:
“I have a bit of a power problem with my Atlas 45 degree crossing. I have soldered the connections also with the addition of a power supply for each rail in the middle of the crossing. Despite this, my engines stall at the crossing. Is there a fix?”
5 Responses to Power Problems With Atlas Crossing
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What code of rail is the crossing? How big are the wheel flanges on your locos? I”m
wondering if the wheels are getting hung up in the crossing and being lifted over the top of
the rail.Test the crossing with a light to see if there truly is current, if so it may be the
code of the track is to small for the flanges and you’d need to change one or the other
M Griffith’s comment is one possibility. A way to confirm is whether your locos also stall on your turnouts.
The other possibility is that the pickups on your locos are not connecting with all the wheels on your locos. The crossing seems fairly small and I would have thought most locos would have wheels on the track on either side as well as on the crossing.
Problem solved SON!!! Had same problem with a 19 Degree crossing. Very perplexing. Did like you, soldered everything, then took my volt meter and ran the crossing — not just once, but 5 – 6 times, and my little 4 – 6 – 2 would still stop dead center of the crossing!!! Went to a train show, took a nap, and woke up with the answer. It is like a detective story, after all possible solutions have been exhausted, and the problem is not yet solved, whatever remains, no matter how improbable,
has to be the answer. get your files out and start digging out the area between the stock rails and the check rails and wing rails. You will have to play with this awhile until you clean out the excess .
What is happening is the area between the stock rails and check rails are not deep enough, therefore when the flanges get into the crossing, they are riding on that excess material and not on the rails themselves!!! In other words, the wheels lose contact with the rails!!!!
Using a ohm meter check your rails/rail joiners for continuity. You can also just solder the rail joiners. But, I wouldn’t until I know what the problem is
I have the same problem. It’s not that the wheels aren’t connecting to the rails, they are in my case. It’s usually the spacing between the loco’s axles, and the rail gaps in the crossing, it’s almost like a timing issue, they have to make contact over the gaps. Use a meter to check the continuity of the all the rails in the crossing to make sure all the rails have power. What does help, is to add more wheel pickup points on any given locomotive that seems to stall on the crossing. I use Phosphor Bronze wire (.008) to add more pickup wipers wherever possible on my loco’s. I don’t know why the manufactures don’t add pickup to all the wheels, it would be nice, but I suppose they are cutting the costs of production. Adding more pickup to the wheels also helps going through turnouts.