I have an autoreversing standalone track about 15 feet long, only one right angle curve. The set up is comprised of a Bachman HO autoreversing boxed set and some additional autoreversing straight tracks purchased separately. Even brand new streetcar will fail to make the reversing changeover at the far end of the run - opposite the power track. This failure to revers occurs not immediately but after five or six down-and-back runs. The loco will go dark at the end of the run and stay dark. One affected streetcar is brand new, the other only a year old. Most of the tracks are only one Christmas season old and the others are brand new. It is difficult to imagine this is a dirty rail or dirty contact wheel problem.
Can the power track be positioned in the middle of the run to cut the effect of voltage drop along the run in half? Or must the power track stay at one terminus? Thanks in advance for your help.
Dear 82,
At the reverse point there is a tiny gap in one rail. cleaning that out with an Xacto blade often helps.
I believe you can reposition the power pack as well.
Good luck!
the Bach-man
I'll try cleaning the gap. Thanks!
Wow, Bach-man. When you said "tiny gap," you weren't kidding. I would never have noticed it without your pointing it out. Thanks.
Last post, to follow up for others experiencing this intermittent reversing problem with the Bachmann auto reversing boxed set. The "tiny gap" that Bach-man helpfully identified needs to not only be "cleaned out," the gap establishes an electrical break in the rail that is critical to the reversing controller circuitry - the gap must be noticeable and maintained. If you are unaware of that requirement, it is very easy to press the rail sections together and eliminate the gap when you are assembling the EZ track layout. The rail slides more easily than you might think in the plastic ballast of the EZ track, and the gap is closed. If the two rail sections touch, no reversing!
Lesson learned: AFTER assembling the layout, go back with an Exacto or other very narrow tool and reestablish the gap on each end. One of the gaps is on the electrical supply track and the other is on the companion track with "A" labeled at one end and "B" labeled at the other.
Merry Christimas.