Hi!
I'm wondering if there is a way to wire 2 passing sidings and one stub-ended siding inside the insulated section of a reverse loop. I need all three sidings to be electrically isolated, so I can stop the train inside the block. However, I would like to be able to match the speeds of all three to the tracks outside of the siding, so I the train won't instantly jump in speed as it leaves the block. I am running non-DCC with one Bachman power pack with a direction switch, two Bachman power packs with a directional knob (left of the center is one polarity, right is another), an atlas twin, an atlas #220 controller, and three atlas 4-switch connectors. I've tried everything I can think of yet keep coming up with one or more of the tracks not working right. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Also, would it be worth it to shell out the cash for an automatic polarity reversing machine? If so, which should I buy, preferably at a low cost.
Thanks!
ps. What do I use tags for? Do I even need to use them?
Yes, you can just wire the sidings the same as you would anywhere else. You can put kill switches on each of them to stop a train and let others run through the loop.
Auto-reverse units only work on DCC. DCC doesn't care about the polarity of the track power, but DC does. That allows the DCC auto-reverser to flip the polarity in the loop without affecting the direction the locomotive is travelling.
Tag? You're IT! No, tags are unnecessary. They'll put one on your toe when you die and they take you to the morgue. If you're lucky, some drop-dead gorgeous actress pretending to be a pathologist will pretend to read your toe tag.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Thanks! Would the selectors be a kill switch? Can I simply connect the transformer to the selector and the selector to the track?
If you're going to use the Atlas electrical components, then yes, you could use a Selector. A Selector actually allows you to assign a given track section to one of two cabs or turn it off completely. If you have any of the Atlas track plan books, they show exact wiring using their components, and some of the layouts have reverse loops. You can probably find one that has sidings inside the loop even, to duplicate exactly what you're doing, 1 extra siding or 5, it's all the same, just more switches.
The biggest negative of the Atlas track somponents is they use common rail wiring. It's a non-issue for DC most of the time, especially if you use two individual power packs. But should you convert to DCC in the future, and they layout is complex and large enough to require more than one booster, you don't want common rail. YUou can 'fake it' for now by putting an insulated joiner in BOTH rails where an Atlas plan calls for just one rail to be insulated, and putting a feeder for both rails where the Atlas plan calls for a feeder is just one rail. All of the feeders going to the rail that the original plan did NOT have feeders goign to, you can tie to a common point and run a single wire there to the common rail connection point on the Atlas electrical bits. Thus you have a DC layout wired like common rail, but since you have both rails gapped and feeders in both rails, it's ready to break up and easily reconnect as direct home wiring for when you convert to DCC.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
SkierByTrain Hi! I'm wondering if there is a way to wire 2 passing sidings and one stub-ended siding inside the insulated section of a reverse loop. I need all three sidings to be electrically isolated, so I can stop the train inside the block. However, I would like to be able to match the speeds of all three to the tracks outside of the siding, so I the train won't instantly jump in speed as it leaves the block. I am running non-DCC with one Bachman power pack with a direction switch, two Bachman power packs with a directional knob (left of the center is one polarity, right is another), an atlas twin, an atlas #220 controller, and three atlas 4-switch connectors. I've tried everything I can think of yet keep coming up with one or more of the tracks not working right. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Also, would it be worth it to shell out the cash for an automatic polarity reversing machine? If so, which should I buy, preferably at a low cost. Thanks! ps. What do I use tags for? Do I even need to use them?
When I started typing this I remembered why modellers make a distinction in terms. A turnout is the track that switches from one route to another. A switch is an electrical device that turns current on and off.
The first part comes at the track laying. For a reverse loop, the turnout that forms the loop must be insulated from the line coming into it, so it must have insulated rail joiners on all rails coming out of the turnout (frog end).
To simplify what you want to do, install insulated rail joiners on all rails coming out of the turnouts (frog end) at both ends of the passing sidings instead of the turnout that forms the loop. The power feed to these two sidings can be turned on and off with a simple switch, I have a hard time remembering the Atlas names, but I think it's the Selector (three on-off switches). Since you also want a spur (stub end siding) track within the loop, for the turnout feeding into that, insulate only the rails coming off the frog end into the spur, not the rest of the main route. Since this will be within the reverse loop, it can have power fed from the third switch on the Selector. The power feed into this Selector comes from the "Loop" terminals of the Controller (again guessing at Atls names). Since you should be operating these from a single power pack, the speed matching should not be a problem.
Which brings a question from me to you: do you have the capability to run more than one train at a time? If not, how do you have the multiple power packs wired into the layout?
The next bit of advice I'd give is to get rid of those cheap power packs and pick up a better quality one. Model Rectifier Corp (MRC) is probably one of the better known makes with a great reputation for quality, and you'll be amazed at the difference in control you'll get from the better power pack.
Finally, I didn't understand your question about "tags." What tags are you refering to?