Time to show my complete ignorance on everything DCC. Getting ready to start a new layout and plan to go with the Digitrax Super Chief and everything I have read has mention using a program track to set loco's up. What the heck is a program track? Is it a section of track on the layout itself or just a separate section of track?
Thanks,
Dave in Maine
'there's something happening here, what it is ain't exactly clear' Modeling the Hard Knox Valley Railroad in HO scale http://photos.hardknoxvalley.com/
A program track is a piece of track that can be totally isolated from the rest of the tracks on the layout that is used to program the DCC decoder of a locomotive.
It can be a track on the layout that is isolated electrically by a switch or a physically separate track that is only hooked up to the program track connections of the command station. For example on my layout I had an industry spur right above the command station that I could isolate with a DPDT toggle switch to connect it to the normal power bus or to the program track connections on the layout.
Dave H.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
Dave, a program track is a location where decoder equipped locos can be programed in a safe environment. The currents and voltages applied to the program track are much lower than the operating layout track, and so even a miss-wired or shorted loco will not have its decoder destroyed on a program track.
For DCC systems that support a program track, a separate pair of wires come from the command station to the program track. This can be physically separate from the main layout. Some people, myself included, will integrate the program track into the layout as a spur. Using a switch I can run my loco into the spur under power and then switch over to program mode to perform any programming I want to do.
It is also possible to program your locomotives on the main, not using a program track. The risk being that if you put a new installation out there it can fry the decoder if not installed correctly. Personally I would always use a program track first.
Simon Modelling CB&Q and Wabash See my slowly evolving layout on my picturetrail site http://www.picturetrail.com/simontrains and our videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/MrCrispybake?feature=mhum
Whether your program track is a separate piece of track, or a siding which can be electrically isolated from the rest of the layout, is up to you. The separate track is easier to begin with, as all you have to do is run a couple of wires to it. Having it on your workbench is a nice solution, if your layout and workbench are close by.
Having a section of your layout which can become your programming track is nice, too. This is more important when you've got a "mature" layout, and you are tweaking your engines and then running them around to see how well they work. You can also appreciate a track where you can run the engine on to the track as part of your normal layout configuration, and then just throw a switch to program it. This avoids handling the locomotives too much, and eliminates the hassle of getting all those wheels back on the track. (Think big steam engines.)
You don't have to decide right away. I'd start with a separate piece of track if you're early in layout construction, or even early in your exploration of DCC. You can always change later. Also, there's no reason to limit yourself to one option or the other. You can wire both a separate track and a siding on your layout if you want.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Jim, Modeling the Kansas City Southern Lines in HO scale.
You can have a program track incorporated within a mainline if you need to do it. You need a 4PDT (not center off) to control 2 dead spots on each side of the program section while your doing programing operations. The switch positions are ;"Run/Program".
Joe Fugate has a wireing diagram to do this, I got mine from his site or a post he made on this forum. I forget exactly which.
Jules