Good Evening All:
Finally got the O & W Rwy to the point I can use it. NCE PowerCab, 250 feet of track, 41 Peco Insulfrog ("dead" frog) turnouts and 3 Insulfrog crossovers. No problems with the turnouts at all....but the crossovers were causing my three-color LED on the NCE Smart Booster and the #1156 taillight bulb on that power district to wink and sometimes light up. When the #1156 lit up the train stopped - the booster had obviously tripped its breaker. In 2 or 3 seconds when the booster restarted, the train took off as if nothing had happened. It occurred going South but not when going North.
I finally determined that a couple boxcars were the culprits. Further checking determined that their wheels would not quite fall into the notches on my NMRA HO Standards Gauge. Close, but no cigar. A few thousandths, maybe. Once I had twisted, pushed and pulled to get them perfectly in gauge....no more shorts....none, zip, nada! I was amazed (still am) that so small a change could have such a significant effect. Henceforth, all new cars will have their gauge checked before being allowed on O & W rails. I suppose a lot of modelers have been doing this for decades...but I'm new at it. Incidentally, my new "hunkerdown" high-side gondola came with its wheels nicely "in gauge"....a good omen?
Thanks for sharing your Now I Know experience.