using lockons to power to track

[cheech]

I'm planning to use lionel lockons to power tubular track on one loop of my layout.  the layout uses switches to connect between loops.

must the lockon be attached in the same way each time. hard to explain without a picture, but think of a track going east to west. can the lockon be on the north side sometimes and the southside other times OR will this cause the common/power connections to get messed up?

 

thanks

ralph

[rlplionel]

You can use the lockons on either side, since the two outer rails are electrically connected by the metal ties in the tubular track. The lockon will also correctly contact the middle rail no matter which side of the track you attach it to.

[chuck]

If this is true tubular track, it shouldn't be an issue as the outside raiks are tied together by the metal ties.  The only time this might become an issue is if you were to place a lockon on a section of track that is suposed to be isolated and the lockon was "backwards" from the rest.  This would negate the isolation rails.

[USNRol]

Works perfect.  This is a beauty of 3 rail!!  Just make sure polarity between transformer and lockons are always the same.  Common "U" to terminal #2 (Outer rail) and "A" to terminal  #1 (center rail)

Roland

[lionelsoni]

Unless it's one of the transformers that's the other way around, like a 1033.

[lionelsoni]

By coincidence, I bought the May CTT today and found a "correction" to a non-error in the "Wiring Diagrams" feature from the March issue.  The alleged error is that the March feature got the A and U terminals of the 1033 transformer swapped.  I don't think so:  March got it right; the May "correction" is wrong.  Anyone who wires it the May way will find that an accessory operated from an isolated rail will behave strangely, and that modern locomotives that expect a positive voltage offset to blow the whistle will ring the bell instead.

Neil repeats the error of calling the transformer's return or common a "neutral".  This is the one which I criticized when it came out:

http://www.trains.com/trccs/forums/1029751/ShowPost.aspx

 

[bfskinner]

Bob, 

You'd think that after 107 years of Lionel trains we would have reached agreement as to what to call each of the two wires that go from transformer to track! This is ridiculous.

[csxt30]

I always think of them as "the left wire & the right wire" !!

Thanks, John

[Blueberryhill RR]

I always think of them as "the left wire & the right wire" !!

Thanks, John

That is correct, John.

Unless the Lockon is on the opposite side of the track....And then.................

it's  " the right wire and left wire ".

[csxt30]

I always think of them as "the left wire & the right wire" !!

Thanks, John

That is correct, John.

Unless the Lockon is on the opposite side of the track....And then.................

it's  " the right wire and left wire ".

LOL !! Should have seen me when I was still using those Lionel buttons for horn & whistle !!

Thanks, John

[1688torpedo]

 Hello All!     CSXJohn-   Did you get the sound of a Trumpet Horn when using the Lionel Buttons for Whistle & Horn? Take Care.