Try the Digitraxx forum

I don't know if one can be had that will fit into a N scale locomotive, but current keeper capacitors are used all the time in HO scale for just this exact problem.     They carry just enough charge to get you over an unpowered frog or a short stretch of dirty track.

You can call Soundtraxx in Durango, Colorado and talk to the customer rep about your exact locomotive and what will fit in it.  They will speak at length to you about helping solve your issue, I guarantee that, they are very customer friendly.  I do fear that there is not one made small enough to fit inside an N scale locomotive though.

There are other makers that you could try just as well, I just happen to have a long experience with Soundtraxx and know people there.

Are you the same Sheldon that's on the trains.com forum?

There was a greasy joint something like that across the driveway from the place I used to work.  There was always cats around the back all the time.  The joke was, those cats better look out. 😮🫨😱😂

" DCC friendly" switches are a myth that needs to stop being perpetuated.

I'm in HO but I have a good many EZ track switches on my layout. If yours are anything similar to mine, there's a little jumper wire underneath to, when plugged in, powers the frog. And eliminate stalling if all of the wheels from rail's  pickups sit on the frog at the same moment.

It's quite possible that your switches currently don't have the frogs powered.  If your locomotives are diesels that only pick up on one side of the truck, it could be that unpowered frog completely isolates one of the trucks from picking up on one of the rails..... if that makes sense.  A powered frog eliminates that tissue.  See if there is some little jumper wire under the switch to power your frog.  It's an entirely possible that N scale switches only have an unpowered frog, period.  Someone more knowledgeable than I will have to answer that question.

At the risk of talking about the competition's products, I also have some Kato Unitrak switches that have the same power/unpowered frog capability.  Except with their switches, there's some little set screws underneath you can change around to set the switch the way you want it, achieving the same end result.

I'm looking at the green peeled paint on the burger parlor door that's really good, really well done.

I like the water tank without a roof. That was a very deep south thing, the Missouri Pacific tank in my hometown was like that.

It appears that the tank is a petticoat junction reference.

Verily, verily I say unto thee.  Bewarest thou of the pig in a poke known as the used model railroad locomotive.  Knowest thou not of the travails the lamb has suffered in its previous life, from dropping off the table to being a weapon with which to assail the younger brother. Seeketh thou rather the path of righteousness of the new purchase, often with warranties, to avoid the weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth. Selah.

You need this book if you don't have it already. It's pricey, but really worth it, I have to say.  It took me a couple of weeks to really get down deep into it, it is so detailed along with countless great photographs.

https://mopac.org/product/the-missouri-illinois-railroad-2nd-printing/

It really operated like a short line divided in half by the river.  I liked their consolidations hauling two car passenger  trains. Perfect for a layout. Even though they had a couple of really neat light Pacifics.

Are we talking about the old  Missouri-Illinois?

I've seen a couple of Missouri Pacific cabooses on your layout. What is the connection? If any.

Quote from: jward on March 13, 2026, 12:27:33 PM

Quote from: trainman203 on March 10, 2026, 09:02:58 PMI don't know how this will reproduce in this form, but this Sanborn map is a view of some long-gone very compact street running switching trackage in my hometown, reminiscent of the 4x8 under discussion. The T&NO comes in from the left. It crosses the vertically running MP several times. The T&NO was in this location at least 20 years before the MP arrived.

https://www.loc.gov/resource/g4014nm.g033751952/?sp=9&st=image&r=0.346,0.184,0.575,0.669,0

Looking at this map raises some questions. There has to be an interesting story here. My understanding is that the later railroad to arrive must pay for any necessary junctions to the existing railroad, and for a tower to control things if necessary. Could the T&NO have purposely added more industrial spurs in order to increase the cost of the MoPac coming to town? How was the issue of T&NO fouling the MP line to serve these industries handled? Did they have to get permission to foul the MP? Or were speed low enough and traffic light enough that visual right of way would suffice?

I would have no idea about the business dimensions of these two railroads crossing each each other so many times within a few hundred feet.

However, there was definitely no tower at that location at that location with that street running track, I never saw anything move on it during the day.  I found out later on with the MP only switched it at night to avoid any auto traffic.  But I have to say, this was a pretty small town and I don't remember ever seeing anything approaching heavy traffic on that street as many times as I rode my bicycle up and down that street.  We were never able to talk to anyone on the T&NO about that location, but I remember seeing a box car at that oil dealer only a couple of times and a only couple of boxcars on the one that curved way to the right after the crossing the MP.  There's a more detailed map of everything to the right that I need to find, should've posted it before.

Also, these tracks here were dead end switching trackage with engines only moving one or two cars at a time, there were no actual train movements with cabooses at this location.

I did a very long, detailed narrative about this spur and the Missouri Pacific in my town in general on another forum a couple of years ago. I could post the link to it here if anyone is interested.

Put the locomotive on an actual program track .  You should be able to get a read out of a manufacturers number which is a standard established by the NMRA.  The next thing it will tell you is a product ID number. Once you know who made this decoder and what it actually is, you can pursue it in more detail.

 To me this sounds like a preowned locomotive with an unknown aftermarket decoder. Correct me if I'm wrong.

But if by some miracle it happens to be a Soundtraxx product, follow their instructions to reset the decoder to factory default by doing a cv8 reset to value eight.  You then break the power to the locomotive by rocking it completely off of one rail, then setting it back down and you should see the headlight blink 16 times if the reset is correctly negotiated.  At that point, the address will be 3 and all functions should work.

Have you tried putting this engine on an actual program track?  If you do that, you can read the address and you can read what each CV value actually is.  One of the first things that will do is provide you a manufacturer ID number which is established by NMRA standards, and you can look it up and see who actually made this decoder.  Then you should be able to get a CV list and know which CV actually does what.

Have you called Bachmann to ask?