Quote from: jward on June 06, 2020, 03:14:13 PM
The only problem with the spookshow site is that it's N scale only.

True.  I forgot I was not in the N scale part of this forum.  Still, a lot of what is in N scale is copies of what was done in HO scale.

It would help if the OP would tell us what scale he is using, and what period he is modeling.

Check here: http://spookshow.net/passenger/passenger.php for an independent look at what has been made, so far.  While it won't tell you much about which of those things are made with B&O paint, it will give you an idea of what body types can be found on eBay, etc.  Sometimes you need to wait for something to show up - not everything ever made is available for sale/bid all the time.  And, while you are at Mark's site, take a look at Mark's locomotive section - it is a lot more informative than the section about passenger cars.

When you say "consisting" in the context of the EZ Command Controller, I assume you mean just assigning both locos the same number.  If they run close to the same speed, there probably won't be any damage, because one will slow the other down and the other will speed the first one up, so that they match speed without dragging wheels.  But, if they are so different that one is dragging wheels, that can pull off traction tires and put grooves in the dragged wheels if it is done for long.  And, if the speeds are a lot different, then running the two together might not pull any more cars than just one by itself, or even fewer cars.

But, with more advanced DCC command stations, it is possible to adjust the speed of each locomotive so that they run at the same speed at each throttle setting.  This is called "speed matching" and requires a DCC command station that is able to change computer memory values in decoders.  Those values are called "configuration variables" and abbreviated "CV".  There are two ways of speed matching.  One involves just 3 CVs: start, mi-speed, and top speed.  The other is more elaborate, and involves a table of many CVs for many speed steps.

If you have a friend with a more advanced DCC command station than can program decoder CVs, then you might get him to speed match your two locomotives for you.  Once the CVs are set to match the speeds, they will run at the same speed on any controller.

If I read the OP's question correctly, he has multiple 12V DC lamps connected to a 22 AWG bus by individual 24 AWG feeder wires.  And, it was one of the individual 24 AWG feeder wires to one lamp that burned-up.

That sounds to me like a short circuit in the one lamp, affecting only its wires.

If the problem had been too many lamps on the 22 AWG bus, I would expect the 22 AWG wires to burn out between the power supply and the first lamp on the bus.

Why try to calculate a fixed resistance value?  It doesn't seem at all straight forward to figure out the resistance that will slow one Eggliner down to the speed of anther Eggliner.  After all, they were built the same way, so, if everything was perfect, they would already be running a the same speed.

So, why not put a variable resistor in the motor lead, and tweek it until you get the speed you need.  (Of course, you have to put the resistor in the faster Eggliner, not the one that is slow to begin with.)

Sorry that you took my last post as being "testy".  I was just stating the facts that apply to the type of help you were asking for.  I was trying to tell you how to isolate the problem without the voltmeter/continuity tester that you did not have when this started.  But, we were not getting anywhere because you were not taking any of the suggested steps, or maybe just not telling us what happened when you did.  Now that you have the continuity tester, those steps are not necessary, and you have isolated the problem to the RH turnout.  So, apparently the problem is a defective turnout.  While you could have figured that out with the steps I already suggested, it is obviously much easier with the proper test gadgets.

Anyway, you seem to have your answer.  No hard feelings.  Feel free to ask for help, again.

Also, others may be interested in what you find when/if you take that RH turnout apart, so posting the results here would be nice.  But, if you want to get a refund or replacement, it might not be a good idea to take it apart.

If you want help, you need to start answering the actual questions that I am asking.  I could probably solve your problem in a couple of minutes if I were there, but I am not there.  So, I need you to be my eyes and hands to see and do the things that I would do if I were there and then clearly communicate the results to me.

So, at least tell me if you have only one track power feed wire going to all of your track.  If you have more than one, please tell me where they are connected.

QuoteThe only wire I use is the red one from my EZ Command controller that I plug into a 10 inch re-railer.

So you are saying that there is only one feed to all of your track?  The red wires to the two Bachmann turnouts are not connected?

I read the thread, and it really doesn't add anything to my understanding of your situation.

You really do need to get a meter and learn how to hunt for short circuits, because it is very hard for others to look at your words and figure out whether you have a bad component or simply have misunderstood how to properly connect a good component.

One possibility that you words suggested is that you may not know how to hook up a "remote" turnout properly. I see two wires coming from the turnouts in catalogs, and only the green wires in your pictures.  So, I am guessing that you have used the red wires to put track power on your turnouts, and not yet hooked up the "remote" control buttons?  I don't have the info on how to properly hook them up, but it occurs to me that you could get a short by (1) accidentally hooking the turnout track power plug up in reverse phase to the adjoining straight track, or (2) accidentally hooking the remote control power to the track connections, or (3) accidentally hooking the track power to the remote control connection.  Have you checked for those 3 errors?  One thing to do without the meter is to disconnect both the track power feeds and the remote control feeds from both turnouts and see if there is still a short circuit.

Since they are Bachmann turnouts, I am not going to be any help on actual turnout issues, because I have never used them.

But, if it is not a bad turnout, I might be able to help with whatever wiring issues are causing the short.

My first question is: do you have a volt meter?

My second question is whether you have tried disconnecting the LH turnout from the track to see if there is still a short?  If so, then, can you take that RH turnout off and replace it with what looks like one of the RH turnouts I think I see down by the roundhouse?  Is there still a short when you substitute another for the RH turnout that comes off the oval, with the LH farther down still removed? 

But, if there is not still a short when the LH turnout is removed,  try connecting the two branches beyond that turnout (one at a time) with pieces of track, (a straight for the straight path and a curved piece for the branching path).  If there is still a short when one of those sections of track bridges one of the paths, then the short is somewhere in that path, not the turnout.

Not sure what you mean by "as pictured".  When I click on your link, I see a picture of a layout with two left hand turnouts creating a crossover between what appears to be 2 ovals.  The turnouts appear to be Katos.

If that is the area that is causing the problem, my first guess would be that you have the ovals wired with opposing phase - that is, the inner rail on the inner oval is the opposite phase (wire color) from the inner rail on the outer oval.  So, when the two ovals are connected by the crossover, it creates a short circuit.

If that is not the problem, then yYou will have to give us more information before we can help you.

A lot of the differing experience and recommendations has something to do with the different environments that people use for their layouts. 

If you are using sectional track that is not glued down on a layout that is inside the house, then just a few track feeders are needed and rail joints really don't need to be soldered.  The joiners are not going to corrode very quickly, and all that really needs to be done is to slide them a little to break the corrosion if they develop a lot of resistance.

If your layout is using flex track that is glued down and ballasted, then soldering a high resistance rail joint is harder to do without  melting some ties, at least in the small scales like N and Z.  And, if that layout is in a garage or attic that is not controlled for temperature and humidity, then the likelihood of corrosion on the rail joiners in much higher.

So, most people try to do things to ensure a long reliability period on the finished layout if they expect it to last.  However, that still should consider issues like the potential for turnout mechanical or electrical failure.  Good practice is to not solder turnouts to the adjacent rails, and to solder independent feeders to the turnouts before laying them, plus ballast them with water soluble glue.  That way, turnouts can be replaced without very much disruption to adjacent track and scenery if that has to be done.

The 3 usual ways of disposing of old train sets from another family member are (in no particular order):
1. Try to sell them on eBay
2.  Sell them to an "estate buyer" who specialize in model trains
3.  Donate them to a local model railroad club for them to sell at a "white elephant table" at their club or train show, with proceeds going to support the club.

You can get an idea what your item will sell for on eBay by searching for the same item (by name or product number) and seeing what they actually sell for.  (Don't just look at what other sellers are asking, because some of the asking prices are ludicrous, and those listings are sometimes on there for a year without selling.)  Typically, old N scale stuff does not sell for much if it sells at all.  On the other hand, some old Lionel stuff sells for surprisingly high prices.  It just depends on the particular items.  There are a few old N scale items that still sell for decent prices, and some Lionel stuff can't be given away.  And, remember that the highest price something sells for on eBay is what only 2 people think it is worth.  Sometimes the third highest bidder is not willing to pay anything like the final bid price.  You can get an idea of how many people value an item by looking at the amounts bid by all of the bidders.

I did HAPPEN to learn something about Bachmann BLUETOOTH decoders that may or may not be applicable to your situation.  For the Bluetooth decoders, Bachmann designed them to run with Bluetooth decoder control or DC, but not DCC on the rails.  To get THOSE decoders to run in DC when put on DC rails, Bachmann told me to increase the throttle (to about 11 o'clock on their DC throttle) and then CYCLE THE DIRECTION SWITCH BACK AND FORTH 4 TIMES to get the decoder to go into DCC mode.  Seems like a terrible PITA, but the only choice if the owner of a Bluetooth decoder equipped loco doesn't have a smart phone.  I don't know what happens when the throttle is turned down to stop after the Bluetooth decoder is in DC mode, because that seems to me like it would be the same as taking the train off the track, so MAYBE it stays in DC mode or MAYBE it reverts to DCC/Bluetooth mode and the throttle needs the 4x direction cycling again just to change directions.

Anyway, it occurs to me that something like that might have happened in your testing, if you cycled the direction control several times in DC mode.  And, I have no understanding of how an MRC Tech 6 throttle is switched from DC to DCC mode, either.  So, just another piece of info for you to think about as you try to figure out what is really going on with your combination.

I still think your best bet is to join the MRC discussion group on Goups.io to get better info.

If you have enough uncovered track to see what direction the locomotive runs when you test the track with the voltmeter, that should be sufficient.  It is important to make sure that the voltage measurements are done in the condition where the unexplained loco behavior is really happening.