I’m about to rip the hair from my head, douse myself with gasoline and strike a match!
Maybe I should know to leave things alone when they are working but I decided to add a passing loop and everything went to hell. Now 4 different switches can kill power to the engine depending on where the engine is on the layout. For instance, if the engine is on the siding and I throw the switch to the main line, I’ve got a dead engine. I’ve reread the Peco instructions at least 10 times and everything seems to be wired correctly. I have a fairly simple layout so wiring shouldn’t be this complicated.
Any advise???
If you live in the Acworth (Atlanta) area and would would be willing to stop over and help me figure it out, I’d sure appreciate it!
any chance you could post a diagram of how it’s wired up? I haven’t used Peco turnouts in N (yet) but if everyone could see what you have, I’m sure we can get it figured out.
The usual problem in this case is that you’ve created a situation where two turnouts are facing each other diverging end-to-diverging end (you can also think of this as frog-to-frog). All you need is to gap the tracks between them to put things right. Since a passing siding is inherently frog-to-frog, this is a likely source of your problem if you did not place gaps in the rails of both track between the turnouts.
Another thing to check is if your new siding created a way for the train to reverse direction. That creates a return loop and a potential for shorts. The solution is a little more involved, but not impossible at all.