Since my AR 1 problems have led me to rethink my layout design - I have ordered another AR 1 in hopes the first was defective and I am not a complete idiot when it come to this stuff - but while musing over the complete overhaul of the layout I came up with this question. If I have the mainline come out of a stub end yard and have it meander around the layout and then return to the yard have I created a giant reversing loop and if so how do it take care of it?
Do I need to incorporate another power district - maybe for the yard? My layout is not that big and would normally be easily powered by my Digitrax Super Chief.
If I do need another power district what do I have to get and how does it get wired up? I know this is a pretty general question but any advice would be great.
Thanks,
Dave
'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/
mainetrainsIf I have the mainline come out of a stub end yard and have it meander around the layout and then return to the yard have I created a giant reversing loop and if so how do it take care of it?
It depends on the track plan. If the train leaves the yard and returns on the same track with the engine going in the opposite direction, then yes, you have created a reverse loop. You can put the entire loop on a reverser, assuming it has the capacity to handle all the trains running there.
There is another option, little discussed. If, as it seems, most of your layout is one big reverse loop, and the loop closes at a small yard, you can still put the yard on the reverser and leave the rest of the layout connected to main track power. This will work too. What counts is that the polarity can be swapped between the reverse section and the rest of the layout, and it doesn't matter which section does the swapping.
Do I need to incorporate another power district - maybe for the yard?
Probably not. You'll get a couple of amps in a reverser unit, and that's enough for most small layouts by itself. My reverse track and yard are all on a single reverser unit, and I have no trouble at all with it.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
If you are descibing a layout sort of like a pitchfork with a loop at the end of the handle (the ard tracks being the tines), then yes, you have a big reverse loop. What you can do in a situation liek that is, if there is a section of the main somewhere that is as long as your longest train, you can make that a reversing section. Like a train-length insualted section in the middle of the run. The branches coming out of the yard would be wired identically, as far as rail a and rail b go, so a train can take either route when it leaves the yard. When it enteres the isolated section, the autoreverser will match polarity, and again when it leaves.
The thign to get away from - the reversing section does not have to be a 'loop'. In a wye arrangement it's usually one leg of the wye. If you have a HUGE reverse loop, say enough track to hold 5 typical trains in a row - there's no need for the entire loop to be the reverse section, all you really needs is a section as long as your longest train.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
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