ok, I had to get rid of my small layout ebcause of construction being done on my house so I decided to make a big look of O 36 fastrack on the floor. so I set it up and power and my 2023 up. But as its going around I notice at one end its going so fast it nearly falls off the track because its going so fast but on the other end its going so slow it stops. the same for my other engines. the loops really isnt that big and I have a ZW. Anyone know whats wrong?
OK, does it slow down in the part of the loop near where the power is connected? If so, you might need to add another feed on the opposite side of the loop.
Another feeder cable halfway around should help. Do this first as it never hurts anything to have more than one power drop. Also make sure that you do not have corrosion on the rails where it is slowing down. Maybe swap that corner with another working corner to see if the problem moves.
Wes
So should I get another lockone trakc section and connect it to the other side and hook it up?
You should just need the lug connector wires which are available separately. You can connect wires to the bottom of almost any piece of FastTrack. The terminals are on the underside. You just need the smal connectors or you can solder 16 gauge speaker wire to the underside of the track.
I agree with what others have said about adding another feeder wire to your track. That will probably solve your problem.
However, I set up a loop of track at my daughter’s house and the trains slowed down on one end of the track. It turned out that the floor was not level so the trains slowed due to climbing a slight slope. You might want to check your floor to make sure it is absolutely level.
Earl
You might have a bad seciton of track. Our cats did something evil to one curved section (piece under the back side of the tree) that caused the track to corrode badly. Most of the damage was on the “inside” and it wasn’t until I pulled it apart that i found out what happened.
Buy a small buble level at Home Depot or Lowes, usually only a few dollars, and check to see that your track is level. About two/thirds of the time when you have a power drop it is the center rail that loses power, so you should try to run a feeder wire to the other side of the loop and see what happens.
Lee F.
Regarding power drops and the addition of another feeder wire with a lock on…I think Bob Nelson suggested 16 gauge wire but nothing smaller than 18. That fixed my problem with power dropping off at the far end of the layout despite the addition of another feed and lockon.
Jack
Jack, I usually recommend no smaller than 14 AWG; but I certainly could have slipped up somewhere. The track itself is roughly equivalent to 16 AWG copper wire; so you want something that is significantly larger than that.
Bob…thanks for this important correction. [tup] I couldn’t find your older post on the importance of using the heavier (I4 gauge wire or heavier) for track connections and that second feed to mitigate the power drop on a layout. My tubular track is what it is, but I was interested that this thread addressed Fastrack as I didn’t know folks with this type of track had many power drop issues.
Before I spoke, I should have Googled to locate your post in the absence of the Forum archive or immediate access to the spool of the new stuff I had bought. Oddly, my local train store sold me a higher thinner gauge wire for this application; and the results were less than desired until I read your post and switched.
Thankfully for others, you picked me up on that one! Thanks.
Just for clarification for those of us unfamiliar, Fastrack has a “power connect” piece of track versus the rest of the track?
Jack
Lionel does sell a standard straight section with the wires attached. Lionel also sells just the wires with the lugs attached. You can also buy the lugs and make your own feeder wires or you can jsut solder wire to the tabs on the underside.
They do, but the only difference from a regular straight piece is a tiny notch in the roadbed for wire egress.
Rob