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On a postwar LIONEL ZW TRANSFORMER, Yes the red light will come on if a short is present with the throttle on. As soon as the throttle lever is in the off position the red light will go off. Shortly followed by the automatic circuit breaker clicking, as it cools and resets. The short on the track may still be present but with the lever in the off position the red light will stay off. There are several variations of the ZW 275 Watt transformer, early and late "type R" models. Both work the same but are wired slightly different the early ZW uses two 6 volt bulbs and the "Type R" uses two 18 volt bulbs. Internally if there is a resister connected to the base of the red light it will use the 6 volt bulbs.
see pages 44 & 45 of attached pdf to figure out your power requirements for all locomotives, lamps/light bulbs & accessories.
compare total needed to power output of your transformer, if total is less that output of transformer, clean wheels, roller pickups & track.
if total is greater than output of transformer, you need more power/larger output transformer. lean wheels, roller pickups track. http://www.slsprr.net/history/1954LionelTrainsAccess.pdf
This does not appear to be a problem with the ZW. The XFMR does not know anything about train location on the track. It appears to be a track connection problem on the center or outside tracks or both. One way to identify a bad connection is to take a parallel wire from the common and hot terminal of the ZW and connect directly to the area of track where the train stops and slows down. If this cures the problem then I recommend checking the tightness of the three track connections. For both FasTrack and Tubular, crimp slightly the pin receiving holes in the end of the track.
Note: For both tubular and Fasrtrack it is recommended that common track power for any one section be input to the track at more than one point. In this way one bad outter or center conductor won't cause the train to slow up or stop.
If FasTrack, you can solder directly to the tabs on the track underside for a permanent connection.
This is just a guess but it may have powered headlights or other lights on the train at one time, some of then even had a smoke producing device on them.
The Lionel postwar 190watt transformer is an excellent power supply for trains. If one or more of the binding posts are loose ("U,A,B,C,D" Terminals") you will need to replace the binding post, use a T-159 replacement Binding Post. The original posts are soldered and crimped on.
The T-159 replacement binding post is bolted on. UNPLUG THE TRANSFORMER Carefully pull/pry up the handles and remove them remove the 4 Philips screws on the top, lift off the case top, the binding posts stay with the body of the KW.
Remove the loose bindings post one at a time as needed. Be sure to get any wire reattached. Reverse the procedure to reassemble.
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