Hello Gary. I feel that somewhere along the line, you've got some poor connections. Your Empire Builder, at 5 amps, should be able to produce sufficient power at the end of your 60' of track buss to short across the coin - assuming you have a 5 amp transformer at a minimum of 12 maximum 22 volts AC as recommended in the Empire Builder manual. If you are in HO scale, I would suggest a minimum of 16 volts AC. Or, power your Empire Builder with the Digitrax PS515 power supply.
What is the amperage of your power supply. While the Empire Builder is rated at 5 amps, if your transformer is producing a lower amperage or a voltage lower than the recommended voltage, your output from the command station won't be 5 amps. However, even if your output is, say, 3.5 amps, it should be more than sufficient to short the coin at the end of your track power buss.
I would suggest that you solder all of your connections directly to your track power buss, rather than through terminal strips. It sounds as if you are using screw-down terminal strips. I've seen these types of terminal strips with bad connections. The difference in power output before soldering and after soldering made all of the difference in the world. Don't depend on mechanical terminal strips. For a technique that I use, visit this page on my website.
Installing the Track Power Buss - Page 1
The next steps will be to test your track power buss through the "process of elimination" technique using the "straight pin" process.
- Shut off your Empire Builder.
- Get two straight pins.
- Go to the far end of your track power buss (at the 60' end).
- Using a pair of pliers, insert one pin into the middle of one wire on your track power bus and the other pin into the other wire.
- Make sure they aren't touching each other.
- Turn on your Empire Builder
- Touch the coin to both of the pins to short them out.
- Your Empire Builder should shut down.
[*]If your Empire Builder doesn't shut down, go to the 30' mark (half of your 60' track power buss) and repeat the "straight pin" process.
[*]If the EB shuts down, then move to the 45' mark (half of half) and repeat the process.
[*]If the EB doesn't shut down, move to the 15' mark (half of half) and repeat the process.
[*]Keep repeating the process until your EB shuts down.
If you end up at the Empire Builder before it shuts down, you probably have a problem at the Empire Builder.
Let me know how it works and we will then take you through the next steps in trying to fix your problem.