NTS&B TMCC Signal Work Started

The Lionel TMCC (remote control) has problems when 1 track passes over another, unless extra earth grounding is provided. Some engines will remain at a constant speed when they lose the TMCC signal. Others, such as my K-Line Allegheny either stops, crawls, or goes wide open.

North Pole Loop: Helix Portion: Today I started working on the North Pole loop, to see if I could get it running properly. My Polar Express and PA1 run fine, but indicates the lose of signal. The Allegheny wont run at all. It runs fine on the ceiling portion, but wont run at all on the Helix and graduated trestle, and has a little problem on the lower return loop. I first started on the helix, with a ground wire ran up and down the 4 inner posts. This helped the inside loop tremendously with the Polar Express. It had signal at all points on the inside rail (where it lost most of it before), but still had a couple dead spots on the outside loop. I next tried the suggestion of a club member, and dropped only a single line down the center of the Helix (and removed the others). This had about the same effect as the original attempt. The Polar Express and PA-1 had no problems on the inside, and a couple weak spots on the outside. In either case, the Allegheny would not run. I finally ended up using 85 feet of 2 inch wide aluminum furnace tape and attaching that to the earth ground. Although the Allegheny won't take commands at all locations, now at least it has enough signal to remain at the programmed speed and not stop or take off wide open.



Trestle and Lower Loop: I still have more work to do on the trestle, since the Allegheny won't respond to any commands on most of it. I ran a strip of aluminum tape under the winter level under the trestle, but apparently that is still to far away from the track to fix the problem. I then ran a 30 Gauge wire through each trestle riser down one side, laid it next to the track and under the carpet on the lower loop and then through the trestle on the other side. That didn't help the North Pole loop, but the PA1 ran better through the mainline yard underneath it. I then attached the dropped ceiling framework to the ground. No help. Lastly, I ran an earth ground on top of the platform of the cable stay bridge. No help there either. It appears the Allegheny is going to be as good as it gets.

Of course, even though the trains are running well, that doesn't mean the engineer is paying attention. While testing the TMCC on the GG1, I lost track (no pun intended) of where the Polar Express was. Looks like I need to revisit the end-of-train warning car I was working on :(. At lease it proved out my theory on how the trains would derail on the Helix.

Mainline Yard: The PA-1 is now behaving very well, but the Allegheny won't run very much at all on the mainline. It went from ignoring commands in the yard, to going wide open on one of the raised portions with nothing above it. Oh well, that'll have to wait for another day (or month)