Thanks Larry, I think the cleaning did the trick as no power loss now.  Some of the goo I removed from the wheels (presumably a build up since 1948!) was almost like the wheels had a rubberized coating. I know rubber does not conduct electricity!  The rollers had some crud too. I would surmise that some of this could be oily buildup mixed with charged particles/dust.  I have never oiled anything but the engine in the weep hole on the bottom and only twice since I've had the train (since 1970), but I am guessing over time someone may have oiled the axles thinking it needed it.  Do they?  Thanks again.  Ken

Well Larry, what do they say?  Fix one thing and something else becomes the weakest link?  So I took off that little wire that was soldered to the base and it made no difference, so all was well I thought.  No power loss areas on the track!  Consistent speed all the way around.  Again, I've got 4 curved pieces each side and one straight piece between them to form a small oval around the tree.  Now, the train (once warmed up), just stops then starts again after a moment right at the area of the new lockon as well as a area almost directly across from it.  I removed the old lockon to see if it made a difference and it did not.  Using either both or just the new one makes no difference.  Now I'm thinking it was another issue all along that is highlighted with more/better power.  What else could this be?  Contact with track was my first suspicion and I did see a small flash at the same point each time it goes around near the new lockon.  I know my inquiry is now only expanding possibilities of the issue, but I am not knowledgeable on these things.  I just get it out and turn it on every year and it runs.  Thanks for any additional advise and help. 

All,
I got my second lockon a couple days ago and installed it at the point where the train is losing some power around a turn. It seemed to have solved the problem, but when I ran my train tonight after cleaning the old (presumably 1948 vintage) lockon, which worked fine before, the train stalled out/stopped running at the point of that old lockon.  I have two questions--I have the lockon installed on a curved piece of track as my layout is a small circle around the Christmas tree so only two straight pieces total--should I be installing the lockons on the straight track only?  Second question--there was a old soldered spot on the original lockon that had a wire from the crimp to the composite base. I removed that as my new lockon did not have that.  I don't know how that would affect anything but asking in case that was common practice a long time ago.  I cannot make sense of it as a wire from the crimp to the composite base is going nowhere in essence.  Thx, Ken

Larry,

Thanks for the quick reply. 

Barry

Larry,

Are you saying that you can run multiple FasTrack power supplies on 1 long track?  If so, how many.  What's the maximum recommended # of tracks (or track length) per power unit?  How many different Lionchief sets can be run on a single continuous FasTrack layout?


I appreciate any help you supply.

Thanks,
Barry