A question about wiring on my planned layout

[Anonymous]

With the two loops that I have in this layout do I have to do anything different with wiring to power the loco's.  My brother is concerned that this layout will cause trouble with the direction of the train on the loops etc.  So I ask you all because you guys are the smartest in the world.  What should I know to wire this layout?  Oh, the switches are going to be manual switches not remotes.  Thanks

[Anonymous]

I'm thinking that all I need to do is a direct connection from the transformer to the rails, but he thinks that I need more complicated wiring.  What say you all?

[dennyblock]

Is your brother into two rail trains? In three rail the center rail is hot and both outside rails ground so loops are no problem. With two rail it's much more trouble. One lockon should run your whole layout although you may want a second on the far side to even out power distrbution

[Anonymous]

Is your brother into two rail trains? In three rail the center rail is hot and both outside rails ground so loops are no problem. With two rail it's much more trouble. One lockon should run your whole layout although you may want a second on the far side to even out power distrbution

No my brother isn't into trains, he's starting out like me, but he knows currents and stuff, I told him that it should be a problem because I see it all the time and that these are very basic layouts so it should just be a matter of using a lock-on or some solder, he just couldn't figure out how it would work; which is just like my brother who is always over thinking issues. 

With the second lock-on for the back side of the layout, that would just run off a normal splice in the wiring and be powered off the same transformer right?

[dwiemer]

I would use a Bus system where you have say a 12 gauge wire for common and another for power that is run under the layout that you would run feeders from to the track.  Put a feeder line of say 18 gauge wire to each of the Bus wires every 6 feet or so.  Also, depending on how you want to run your trains, you could either use command, or isolate the inner loops and sidings and then run power to each one going through a switch which would allow you to park engines on these sidings.  One way to go would be to get a copy of the Wiring your Train Layout available from Kalmback, the owners of this forum and Classic Toy trains.  In either case, it is very simple, providing you don't want to run several trains at once, in which case, again, you can either go command, or use relays, but it doesn't look like that is what you are trying to do.  Another good sourse for information is the Building your Train layout DVD put out by TM.  It gets into all this and sometimes it is easier to see it to do it.

Good Luck,
Dennis

[HopperSJ]

ATS, I'm with dennyblock on this one. When I was starting out (only a year ago!) I was debating between two rail and three rail. Your layout would pose some minor challenges with two rail and would force you to create blocks and be aware of special polarity considerations b/c of the dc wiring and the reversing loops also reversing left and right rails. However, with three rail this is all alleviated. The center rail is isolated and the two outer rails are typically connected. Therefore, when you reverse direction through a loop, your outer rails are still outer rails and inner rail remains inner. This is one of the great advantages to three rail and creates some really neat oportunities with track triggered opperating accessories and such. Enjoy!

Oh, and to answer your other question about a second lock-on, I believe the answer is yes, just a simple splice. The idea is to have the power spread evenly between the front of the track and the back. If you only had one lock-on, some of the current might disipate by the time it reached the farthest point from the only lock-on.

[Anonymous]

I would use a Bus system where you have say a 12 gauge wire for common and another for power that is run under the layout that you would run feeders from to the track.  Put a feeder line of say 18 gauge wire to each of the Bus wires every 6 feet or so.  Also, depending on how you want to run your trains, you could either use command, or isolate the inner loops and sidings and then run power to each one going through a switch which would allow you to park engines on these sidings.  One way to go would be to get a copy of the Wiring your Train Layout available from Kalmback, the owners of this forum and Classic Toy trains.  In either case, it is very simple, providing you don't want to run several trains at once, in which case, again, you can either go command, or use relays, but it doesn't look like that is what you are trying to do.  Another good sourse for information is the Building your Train layout DVD put out by TM.  It gets into all this and sometimes it is easier to see it to do it.

Good Luck,
Dennis

Thank you very much, I hadn't thought about parking on the loops that might be something I work in at a later time, right now I will only be running a single steamer.  I added the spur so that I can park some cars on it and run another set.  My next expansion after this diagram is built will be to add a longer spur on the north side of the track outside of the main that way I can run two totally different sets of cars without having to take any off the track.

[lionelsoni]

With that small a layout and any decent kind of track connections, I really doubt that you need to feed it at more than one point.  Rather than going to that trouble, try it with a single feed and see if it doesn't work okay.

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone, ya'll helped a lot and confirmed what I was thinking.