Have you ever had a Lionel TMC locomotive come to a complete stop when going under another loop of track such as an overpass or bridge? The locomotive's front light might flicker put there is absolutely no response to any Command Control signals. This curious problem occurs when the locomotive is not fully shielded from radio interference of the overhead track. For me, it happens with two locomotives: the 6-38094 Milwaukee Hiawatha 4-4-2 steam locomotive (a collector's dream!) and a lashed A-B-A Santa Fe F-3 Diesel Set. Any attempts to send the locomotives a whistle, bell or Command Control movement are totally ignored.
I've tried several ideas including dismantling the track, rewiring it with new TMC lock-ons and replacing the track altogether. I e-mailed Lionel and the only response I got was I needed to ground the overhead track. Grounding the track? My eventual solution was to cut sheet metal and place it underneath the overpass track. Then, I screwed the sheet metal in place so it wouldn't shift and I ran a wire from the sheet metal to the screw of a nearby electrical outlet. This resulted in grounding the overhead track completely. Now, my Milwaukee Hiawatha 4-4-2 and Santa Fe A-B-A run underneath the overpass without a hitch.
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Place sheet metal under overpass track and run wire to nearest electrical outlet or pipe |
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Example of overpass that is grounded |
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Afix wire to nearest electrical outlet to achieve grounding effect |