http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee447/Dean_Purcell/layout.jpg
Am I right in assuming that this is a simple reverse loop in regards to wiring?
Dean
30 years 1:1 Canadian Pacific.....now switching in HO
I took the liberty of inserting IMG tags:
I had to think about it for a minute, but yes, it is a simple reverse loop. The extra connecting track which turns the reverse loop itself into a continuous loop should have no effect on the required wiring.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Thanks MisterBeasley. The square or oval is what I had under the Christmas tree this year. I'm going to expand it for next year to go around two walls of the room with another reverse loop at the other end. Thought I'd keep the original oval in order to let one train go around a few times while another one worked it's way over to the passing track from the opposite end of the room!
In a way, your diagram reminds me of a portion of my layout, as shown in the following diagram, where two tracks branch off of the mainline and feed into my passenger station on the right. I colored that lower track red to represent my reversing section. All of the track colored black is the non-reversing section of my layout. This diagram is greatly simplified just to give you an idea of how I dealt with the reversing section.
Alton Junction
Quick question...is the red section longer than your passenger train?
mactier_hogger Quick question...is the red section longer than your passenger train?
Good question and the answer is No. I violated my own maxim that the reversing section should be longer than the longest train. However, it is long enough to accomodate a four engine consist (an F7 ABBA, in my case). Since I don't have any lighted passenger cars or cabooses with power pickups, I didn't bother. That reversing section shown in red is over 4 feet long, but it is shorter than some of my pasenger trains.
Depending upon the overall track configuration on your layout, you will need to decide how long the reversing section should be, and where the reversing section will be placed, so you can determine where to gap the rails.
Rich
With no lighted passenger cars you're usually ok but it limits your future. Also you always have the chance that rolling stock wheels can bridge the gap on the back end of the loop the same time the loco's cross the front part.
Springfield PA
Hamltnblue With no lighted passenger cars you're usually ok but it limits your future. Also you always have the chance that rolling stock wheels can bridge the gap on the back end of the loop the same time the loco's cross the front part.
HB,
What is life without risk? LOL
True, but when it does happen we somehow forget about these things and start troubleshooting it as a separate problem. We recently ran across this at the club during an operating session. A good bit of time troubleshooting just to find a lit passenger train crossed a Wye section that was a reversing loop. The section was in place for over a year and we totally forgot about it.
Hamltnblue True, but when it does happen we somehow forget about these things and start troubleshooting it as a separate problem. We recently ran across this at the club during an operating session. A good bit of time troubleshooting just to find a lit passenger train crossed a Wye section that was a reversing loop. The section was in place for over a year and we totally forgot about it.
Oh boy, that is both funny and duh. I often wonder what a newbie thinks when he builds a layout with a reversing section or loop without realizing it because he has never heard of, or at least encountered, a reverse polarity situation.