I have recommended this more times than I can count. A pair of diodes wired in antiparallel will drop the RMS voltage by about half a volt. You can wire such pairs in series to get the desired voltage drop. You can use a bridge-rectifier module with the + and - terminals wired together to get the equivalent of two pairs in one component.
Diodes work better for this than resistors, since the voltage drop does not depend on the load. Diodes are safer than using multiple transformer outputs which will be connected together when the train crosses the block gaps.
I don't understand what you mean by "DC Blocks". Are you suggesting using a single diode? Although the locomotive will have no problem with this, the strong DC current component is hard on the transformer; and your only choice is a 30-percent voltage reduction in any case.
Bob Nelson
Has anyone ever used diodes to drop the voltage in blocks of track, for down grades & on the levle, when using conventional engins.
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