The fingernail polish is sounding like a better fix. Cutting the track, would the other truck,that has power, re power the cut part of the track when running over it through the board? I am running long diesel engines.

Sorry about the Tyco Atlas mix up,have had wicked sinus headaches...weather change. They are definitely Atlas and I am not sure about "snap switches" but I seem to remember them being called that. They have power all the way through with a volt meter. Cutting a space in the track sounds like a good fix,will try one and see how it works. Another question I have is how often do I need to do maintenance on the engines,Lube them.I figure about 1 or so hours a day running time. I am using Labelle #107 for bushings and #106 for gears and when I do lube them I take them completely apart,wash the trucks out with Dawn dish washing liquid and warm water, use air to blow out the water and re lube them. Thank all for the advice.

Thank you for doing that. First time using Photobucket.

http://s1361.photobucket.com/user/mechanicstan/media/100_3795_zpssuhee6rn.jpg.html?sort=3&o=0
Hope this works. The short is where the screwdriver is pointing. I wont be building a frog,just grind and replace the part of track that is shorting,about a 1/4 of an inch worth.

I know that I am going to hear about "I should have done more research"  but I wouldn't have know what research to do until I have experienced the problems I am running into. So far the problems I am running into have been simple fixes. Other than the switch problem,everything is working good.

Tried to post a picture but it says it's too big, The switches are 40 year old Tyco and I think they are powered all the way through. They are glued and ballasted in place and I don't really want to take them up, be easier to grind a little and make the track up with JB Weld or body putty.

From what I can see, it is across from the point or frog. I thought it was the frog and across from it seemed too far apart to short, but I can see little burnt sports where it is happening. I would only need to do a 1/4 in of track on one side to stop it. I have read of people using clear nail polish to stop it from happening, but I wanted to do something a little more permanent. Just running the trains straight through seems to be okay,it's when I switch the track or back through the turnout it shorts. 

I received the new decoder boards yesterday and installed them. Everything is working fine,both of the GP7s run good in a consist and was able to reverse the forward direction in one to run long hood forward. I installed one in the GP 38-2 and had no problems changing the address to 1. Happy with how everything turned out,no more hum while they are running. Now I need to work on the old Atlas turnouts to keep them from shorting out when switching tracks. Was thinking of grinding the track where they short out and use something like JB Weld to make new track where I grind it out.

Was thinking of the those new to DCC trains and have no experience with any type of electronics. Most don't know what static electricity could do the decoder. Just a precaution if they take them apart to service them. It was meant for those who don't know about it.

Don't know if this subject has ever come up here, but this is something to think about when servicing your locomotives with DCC. For all who don't know, you can cook the decoder if your body has a built up charge strong enough and you happen to touch the contacts on the board. The dry winter weather is a problem when working with sensitive electronic components. I read a lot of posts of new to DCC and thought I would give some advice for those that would have never thought of something like that happening. Touch something metal that's grounded to discharge the build up.

According to the instructions for the NCE decoders, you install them and put it on the track to test run,then,if needed, you can adjust CVs to your liking,needs. If they are quiet and work out of the box,good enough for me. My train platform will never be seen by anyone except for the pictures or videos that I post on Facebook.  It is in a room that is 12X24, so it's not very big. If I understood the noise made by the non sound units, I may never have bought them, but I have them now and want to fix them, just to get rid of the noise. There again, the research I did, the only negative comment was "it is a little noisy", thinking gear noise. The right maintenance and lube, I thought, would take care of that. As far as the difference between the non and sound units, I had done some research after I had the problem and still have not found any information that explains why they don't run together. It was then that I joined this forum that I found out what the problem was from those that have been there and done that. I Thank Everyone again for their time and knowledge.

I Thank you for the replies that I needed, Now you understand why I want to change the decoders, get rid of the noise. I have completely disassembled both of my F7 units, cleaned and used the Labelle lubes in them and am really happy how they run and sound. If they are set from the factory to run as a consist, I have something to compare how 2 should run together. I have sent my questions to NCE about if any setting that will be needed to adjust them after installation or if the will work out of the box and if they will be set close enough to run a consist without adjustment.

I have been listening to everyone...buy another controlled or take them to get adjusted. I have asked "IF" I have them adjusted, will the hum go away in the non sound unit. How close do they need to be to run a consist? I have a F7A and F7B units that I run a consist and have no problems, I can disconnect them,put them about a foot apart and they will stay that way. I want to change the boards to get rid of the hum, buzz, or what ever you call it. It has been said here that "they are cheap Bachmann boards that causes the noise. I looked into the SPROG units mentioned, I only looked at one retailer for the price and for the SPROG 2 $98.99 which only puts 12volt to the track and the SPROG 3 which puts 18volt to the track, same as the E-Z Command, and it costs $124.99 no shipping cost added. I can get 3 boards delivered to my door for $65.78, a good bit less than buying another controller. I still need the question answered, will the hum go away if the CVs are set? I did extensive research on the DCC Controllers and came to the conclusion that I didn't need to "adjust" anything for the little setup that I have. I trusted the manufacturer to sell me trains that would run and ones that are sold should be compatible with each other. You purchase a F a+b unit, you would expect them to be able to run together. Mr. moderator, does Bachmann tweak, say the F a+b units, to be run together, because someone buying them would no doubt want to run them together? I am listening to everyone here, the main reason for changing the boards is to get rid of that noise and I am going to contact NCE and ask the question, if I change the boards will the trains run together. And the other question I need answered, how close do they need to be to "consist"? I am listening.

Ok brokenrail and rogetra, you say to use JMRI DecoderPro to reprogram the decoder, but Hunt says that it will not work with the E-Z Command that I have, I'm back to just replacing the boards. I went on the JMRI web site and it does not list the E-Z Command as a controller that it will work with.

I had done some research on the engines before I bought them, BUT, my research consisted of reading the comments of people that bought them and ALL that I read, people were happy with them, the only negative comment was from one person that said "it is a little noisy". I probably would have never found out that sound and non sound don't play well together. I joined this forum and started reading if I could find why I am having problems after I was told by Bachmann that there was nothing wrong with the unit that I thought was defective. Only then, from the comments from all the wonderful people here, I found out what was happening with my trains. Do other manufacturers of trains have sound and non sound units that work well together? Do they have non sound DCC that don't hum. I guess it comes down to......you get what you pay for. I am very happy with Bachmann trains and the price I pay for them. They seem to be engineered very good, as good as the 35 or so year old Athearn engines that I have. The price to pay for another controller, just to equalize the engines and never be touched again, will be a lot more than spending the money to buy boards to put in them. I turn my trains on and let them run.