Fixed the blasted Corssever!

Isn't it funny how minor problems can snowball into catastrophes?  Oh, wait, funny isn't the word I'm looking for. Infuriating is more like it. Case and point, I fired up the layout for some roundy-rounding the other night. ow, when the layout sits idle for a while, things can squirly when it's awakened from its slumber.

So, the first catastrophe, I noticed my T1 wasn't responding to the throttle. So, I placed it on the programming track and readdressed it. Unfortunately I forgot to flip the DPDT switch from the layout to the programming track! I suddenly found myself faced with the task of reprogramming every locomotive on the layout! This took me the better part of an evening.

With the decoder issue licked, I tried running trains. The trains on the inside loop stalling on the Peco double crossovers at the entrance to Johnstown.  After futsing with the point rails (the usual culprit with Peco turnouts) and getting nowhere, I dug out the multimeter.  I found the outside rail was dead as Dillinger. This was baffling since one of the two rail joiners was connected to a feeder wire.

I tried soldering the joint on the end opposite the feeder, something I'm always loath to do on a turnout. That didn't work. I soldered a feeder to said joiner. That didn't work either. So I decided to move the feeder to the turnout itself. So I drilled another hole through the layout, unsoldered the feeder wire and went to feed it through the new hole. It wouldn't go through. That's usually the case, so I grabbed a small dowel and pushed it through and "crack!"

I got out from under the table to see the crossover and part of the inside loop lifted into the air. I just can't seem to catch a break.  Long story short, I got the wire fed and solder, the track repaired and the ballast touched up. Thankfully, after all, that the trains are running fine again.