LIONS do not like Gremlins, First they are ugly, they are green and they have floppy ears. Beyond that the like to eat wires and suck out the voltage. Some times they probe a wire or a connection with their tails and inject power where it is not supposed to be, or simply make shorts all over the place.
NOW on the Layout of the LION, everything was working purrfectly, and then all of a sudden it did not work any more and The Gremlins ate up a transformer and two rectifiers. Shot. Burnt. Kaput.
What is a lion to do. Him only has five transformers on this layout, and him cannot even tail which one is causing the problem.
SOLUTION:
Lion go to automotive store and buy an automotive fuse block and of course many fuses. All transformers tie one leg to a HARD GROUND, so we are only looking at the output side of the transformers.
#1 = -12v DC (This is where the problem was)
#2 = +12v DC — These two are the main power source for the GRS machine and all of the Tortoise Switch Machines… so lable them as the “Interlocking Plant”>
#3 = +16v DC — For all of the signals, relays and layout automation.
#4 = +600v DC — For the Third Rail. (OK–So it is really 8-12 volts and connects to the right rail. Anyway it is what moves the trains.)
#5 = +12v DC — HOTEL POWER : Station lighting, building lighting etc etc.
So the LION wires his power through the fuse block, and since him suspects the -12v circuit, him put a 12V automobile tail lite in series with this connection. If a short exists, the light will come on, if no short exists, current will simply pass through the bulb as if it were not there.
Turn the Power ON, Mr. LION! Oh My! The RED LIGHT IS BRIGHT! is short in the circuit. LION clipped all services from the bus and replaced them one at a time to see what circuit had the short on it.
GRS Machine is OK, Connect the 242nd Street complex and the red