My HO layout plan calls for two staging areas, the first has three tracks and can hold up to six trains, the other has four tracks and has room for up to twelve trains. The control is NCE DCC.
With the potential of have a fairly large number of locos on the rails, I presume it is desirable to be able to cut off track power when a particular staging track is not in play. (Thoughts?)
If so, would it be better to:
Thanks.
Jim
I agree that it's a good idea to cut power to staging tracks that are not in use. If you've got sound engines, that will quiet them down, and lighted passenger cars will also be powered off.
I'd go for simple, though. A toggle switch for each section would be appropriate, just a simple SPST toggle. Since your staging tracks are planned to hold multiple trains, you'd be able to divide each track into 2 or 3 sections and control each one with its own toggle, too.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
MisterBeasley I agree that it's a good idea to cut power to staging tracks that are not in use. If you've got sound engines, that will quiet them down, and lighted passenger cars will also be powered off. I'd go for simple, though. A toggle switch for each section would be appropriate, just a simple SPST toggle. Since your staging tracks are planned to hold multiple trains, you'd be able to divide each track into 2 or 3 sections and control each one with its own toggle, too.
Think that's a bit complicated for DCC though -- I'd imagine a single on/off toggle would be fine. Granted that's because I'd be likely to forget turning on all the sections in a staging track.
note: I'm assuming you mean section as in
Sec 1 sec 2 sec 3======|| ======||=========
all on the same "piece" of staging track, rather than
==== sec 1
==== sec 2 (lap switch [3-way] over here to connect all the staging tracks to the main.)
==== sec 3
-Dan
Builder of Bowser steam! Railimages Site
Yes, that's what I meant by "sections," with multiple sections on one line of track.
It probably is overkill to subdivide the tracks, but it's a relatively cheap option. I have a 4-track staging / storage yard, and I've got each track wired to 1 toggle. I use these all the time.
Since you are staging several trains per track, the, one toggle per electrical section should be supplemented by some kind of simple detector circuit, possibly switched on when the track power is switched off. Passing enough power through a stopped train to illuminate a single LED shouldn't use too much of your DCC capacity. This would be especially critical if your staging is totally hidden and relatively inaccessible.
My currently active staging tracks are single-ended, single train, powered through the frogs, so only the selected track has the appropriate polarity on each rail. Since there is a failure-proof sure-stop circuit in place on each track (all it takes in analog DC is a dime diode) I don't have any indicators.
In my future are some staging tracks that will be multi-train nose-to-tail. Those will be powered when the toggle is UP, and have a LED in series when the toggle is DOWN. If there's a train bridging from the powered rail to the common rail, I'll know it.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - with LOTS of staging)