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GP-7 Stalls on Atlas #6 Turnout
Bryan has 
this question:
“I have HO with NCE PC. After problems with my Atlas #6 turnout I added droppers and my engines stopped stalling on it – see my drawing. My GP-7 approaches from Kalmanazoo bound for Grand Rapids… no issues… but heading in the opposite direction it stalls. Doesn’t happen with my other engines. I marked it on the drawing where it stalls. It stops then restarts. I have 2 reverse loops.”
6 Responses to GP-7 Stalls on Atlas #6 Turnout
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Sounds like if you put a current keeper in that loco it would solve your problem.
Check on the back to back on the wheels, in case it is having problems with the guard rails & the frog. If the spacing is too narrow or too wide, it may”catch” the wheels going through that section.
Check to see if it momentarily shorts at the frog, which might cause it to shut down, it passes the frog as it slows, then powers back up and restarts.
One modeller posted that he had one loco which came adrift at one particular turnout, and it was because the gap between the guard rail and the rail was too tight, he opened out the gap and the problem went away. That, in his case was a mechanical problem, not an electrical one.
Good luck,
Bernard
I think Tom is right on. Had a Walther’s SD7oACe that use to do that.
I have not had an Atlas turnout yet that has not eventually had contact issues on the point rails (the rails that actually move). They lose electrical connectivity at their pivot point and the GP (and SD) locos are precisely the correct size to have one truck on the plastic frog while the other truck is on the dead point rail. The quick fix (if there is such a thing) is to solder jumper wires between the point rails and the adjacent frog rails, or just solder the point rails to the frog rails. This makes the point rails a bit stiff, so if you are using switch machines they might not be able to overcome that resistance, but the Caboose ground throws should move them quite nicely.
To test Larry’s theory, hold the blade of a screwdriver on the join between the fixed and moving rail of your point as the loco passes over it. If the loco doesn’t stall while you do this you will now know that the problem is loss of contact between the blade and fixed rail.
Just run a dropper down thru the deck or jump a piece of wire to an adjacent hot spot over to this location . I assume you are getting an “open” at this point and not a “short”??
Also run a volt meter along all rails and be sure they are powered or not as the case should be.