I am knee-deep in a 9'x16'ish HO (DCC) layout (link/track plan below) and could use a sanity check with regard to the two reverse crossovers that I need to handle. Benchwork is complete and track is laid for the upper mainline (light blue) - trains are running on that oval with temporary wiring. So far, so good.
I have an NCE PowerCab and will be adding a 5A Tam Valley booster downstream of that to feed all layout track power. The plan is to have 3 main power districts (plus reversing sections), handled by PSX CBs and ARs:
I think the upper main reverse crossover (dark blue) is pretty straight forward. It's long enough for my longest train and nothing crazy here on the track design. One PSX CB for light blue and one PSX-AR for the dark blue with gaps at the color changes, right?
The lower main, however, is where my real question lies (assuming my logic is sound so far). Being on the inside of the layout, it's a little shorter of a cutoff track. It's also not as straight forward because of the dual turnouts off the main on the bottom. What I'm thinking is to make the light orange part of the oval the reversing section (powered by a PSX-AR), instead of the cutoff itself. From what I can tell, this is not necessarily the most traditional means of handling this, but Larry Pucket's Wiring Your Model Railroad has a figure depicting this in general terms (p. 57) and it grabbed me as a possible solution. One PSX CB for dark orange and one PSX-AR for the light orange?
https://www.trainboard.com/highball/index.php?media/ab-1-1.140279/full&d=1609184210
I've been following these forums for several years and have benefitted greatly from everyone else's knowledge and contributions along the way - finally got the courage up to post a question of my own.
Thank you!
Andy
Responding to boost this up top.
CoastieAndyI have an NCE PowerCab and will be adding a 5A Tam Valley booster downstream of that to feed all layout track power
I didn't know this was possible, I thought you needed a smart booster. However the product description says it is. We've talked about adding larger amp wall warts to the PowerCab causing them to melt. How is this not similar and what is optical isolation of the input?
Sorry to sidetrack your thread. Clicking on your pictures opens it in big, in another window, so the trainboard link is redundant.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
The Tam Valley booster gets it's input signal fromt eh full power of the track outputs of another booster, in this case, the PowerCab. Remember this does not mean the Tam Valley booster will be force fed the 1.7 amps of the PowerCab, electricity doesn't work that way. Only a few mA is drawn, and then this signal is replicated on the Tam Valley booster's 5 amp output. That 5 amps is not in any way going throught he PowerCab. There are two boosters - the one int he PowerCab, and the Tam Valley one.
One problem with doing this is if the PowerCab's track output also powers tracks, a short there will shut down the entire layout, as it will kill the input signal to the Tam Valley booster.
As for the reverse loops, the brown one is the problem. There are two parallel tracks, which means it's entirely possible for one train to head out at the lower left and go clockwise at the same time another train leaves the top right also going clockwise. I think you will need 3 ARs here, two for that section, and one for the other reverse loop connection which is just a single track.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
Henry,
Thanks for posting - not sidetracked at all. I agree that the link is surpufluous, now that I know the image went through.
I appreciate it!
Randy,
2 ARs, one for each of the parallel tracks?
What if the left "half" of the oval (light orange) was the AR section and the right "half" (dark orange/brown), including the parallel connecting tracks, was on a single PSX? The train leaving the top right would be fine and the train heading out the lower left would hit the AR and be handled (assuming no other train on the light orange track)? I suspect I'm missing something fundamental here...
That could work, the way you have the two lower turnouts included int he light orange. As long as all the dark orange is wired correctly, if the light orange was the reversing section, then 2 traisn could chjase each other clockwise or counter-clockwise, or a train could go from dark orange to light orange at the bottom moving right to left while another train exists the diagonal track at the top right heading clockwise and there would only be one reverse required to match everything.