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Ballast issues


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Hi

 

I’m pretty new to model trains and this is my first layout. I have the track down and ballasted however when I wire up my point motors they don’t switch the points. I’m not sure if the ballast is making point movement difficult or perhaps the point motor is faulty. Anyone have any tips on how I could eliminate unknowns?

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2 things here to check

 

First, is there ballast between the blade and running rail?  If so, brush/pick it away (also check all the check rails and inner sides of all trackwork

 

Second, did you glue the ballast down?  If so can you move the points by hand or are the solid?

 

 

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14 minutes ago, JiLo said:

2 things here to check

 

First, is there ballast between the blade and running rail?  If so, brush/pick it away (also check all the check rails and inner sides of all trackwork

 

Second, did you glue the ballast down?  If so can you move the points by hand or are the solid?

 

 

I’ve cleaned the side of the blades and I can definitely move it with my hand. When activated the blades move, however it could take 4 switches for them to go from one side to the other. Also, for some reason the motor doesn’t seem to want to turn left!

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2 hours ago, ddoherty958 said:

I’ve cleaned the side of the blades and I can definitely move it with my hand. When activated the blades move, however it could take 4 switches for them to go from one side to the other. Also, for some reason the motor doesn’t seem to want to turn left!

Try operating the point motor away from the point, if it works then the problem lies with the ballast around the point, has it been glued?

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7 minutes ago, JiLo said:

Try operating the point motor away from the point, if it works then the problem lies with the ballast around the point, has it been glued?

Yes, the ballast is glued down. The point motor doesn’t work when it’s not attached to the baseboard so the point must be faulty. I’ll steal another one from elsewhere. Thank you for your help!

Edited by ddoherty958
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