Hello, All
Thanks to all who offered feedback to me in my quest to add feeder wires to my Bachman EZ track layout. I'm getting closer to making this happen. I have follow-up question(s) that I hope someone can help with:
I think I will be able to prepare positive and negative bus wires for the underside of the train table. Also, I think I am going to be okay using suitcase connectors and wiring feeder wires off the bus wires. I have the suitcase connectors now...(don't think I'm ready for a first soldering attempt under the table looking up). My first question has to do with the terminal tracks that I have and how they could fit into this plan. From the Command Center, power goes to a terminal track. This is 'plug and play'. The only power wire is plugged into the track with a flat plug. Those who know EZ track know that the terminal tracks have a receptacle for that little black plug on both sides of the track. In my application, one side of one terminal track receives the plug...the other side has nothing in it. Could I plug a second plug into the 2nd unused receptacle of the teminal track and have the two wires inside this 2nd power wire connected to the bus wires? That is, would there be power from the terminal track's 2nd plug receptacle? Bachman sells the 'short' red power wire. It has a miniplug on one end and that flat connector on the other. I could buy three and just cut the miniplugs off...retaining the flat plug that attaches to the terminal tracks (I have three terminal tracks on the layout). Would that work? I guess I could buy the power wire from Bachman and attach a second plug to the unused side of the only powered terminal track and buy a (voltmeter?) and see if there's power coming out of that 2nd wire pair (with sheathing removed....revealing the two wires inside); but if someone knows the answer to this, I could go ahead and order these from Bachman with confidence this would work. It seems like this could be neat and effective. Three pairs of feeder wires would come off the positive and negative Bus wires and be connected to three terminal tracks via the 'plug and play' flat plug.
I have a second question. I know that I must have positive feeder wires going to the positive bus wire and negative feeder wires going to the negative feeder bus. When you remove the sheathing from the red power wire, two wires are revealed. These are both red. One has writing on it. The other doesn't. Should I consider the one with writing on it to be 'positive' and the other negative? Also, if that 2nd plug idea does have power, how would I plug that flat plug in so positive went to positive and negative to negative? Wonder if the plug 'port' directly opposite the other plug port would be the same polarity? These two plug port/receptacles have two flat prongs inside.....the flat plastic plug has two openings corresponding to these two flat prongs. Again, the terminal track has a port/receptacle on each side of the terminal track.
I know these are beginner questions and surely appreciate any help. I sure don't want to do anything to fry my locomotives. Hope I described this adequately. I'm really enjoying the hobby. I have my first locomotive with sound and this is definitely addictive! I don't plan to spend more money on the Bachman EZ track product. I know now that it doesn't have the flexibility I need to expand the layout (plus it looks toylike). I'll play with this layout until I develop better skills (and forget how much I've paid out thus far on the Bachman DCC components and the EZ track....lol). Thanks in advance for your feedback!
Mike
You can consider the one with the markings on it either one, just as long as you do so consistently. If you make an oval, and the connection on the terminal track is on the outside of the loop, then the two will match. Or if both connections face the inside of the loop. But if one faces in and one faces out, then they will not match
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
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