Wiring a Wye between Loop and Switchyard

[Baumeister]

Ahem, this is my 1st post ever. I've finally reclaimed some real-estate in my home after a teenager moved out. So I'm reviving my train hobby while I still have some gradeschoolers in the house. They want to know how long till we can run trains. I have a lot of rebuilding to do!

The dusty 4x6 loop-de-loop came in from the garage and I've just soldered together a 2x6 switchyard. Plan is to connect the two with a Wye. This will be DC wiring and I'd like to be able to run one train on the loops while running a switcher in the yard to set up the next train with cars that get dropped off from the loops.  Typically travel is counter-clockwise on the loops.

I didn't mean to make this complicated but after fiddling with the design it seemed like the best idea. I expect this will require a 2-cab design and that I’ll have to have a DPDT switch or two.  In the attached photo you’ll see my two engines sitting on the tracks I’ve insulated via rail-joiners from the rest of the circuit.  My best guess is that I’ll have to set up the track section closest to the wall to be reversible.

If you'll recommend a place where I can upload a photo, I've got one all marked up with arrows and numbers so you can help me figure this out.  Thank you!

[Texas Zepher]

Baumeister

The 4x6 loop-de-loop ... a 2x6 switchyard. Plan is to connect the two with a Wye. This will be DC wiring and I'd like to be able to run one train on the loops while running a switcher in the yard to set up the next train with cars that get dropped off from the loops.

Do you want the train from the main line to move freely into the yard and vice versa? 

. I expect this will require a 2-cab design and that I’ll have to have a DPDT switch or two.

Do you mean a real 2-cab throttle system, or do you mean two separately tracks with one power supply (cab) each?

When/if the trains switch yard to main, is the transition in the yard or on the main?   There are many things that will determine where the reversing section will be.   Normally I would leave the main alone and make the whole yard the reversing section.     Also normally both the reversing section and the main line need to be electrically reversible.    That would be a minimum of 8 DPDT switches.

[Soo Line fan]

Welcome to the forum. Photo bucket is a good photo hosting site but there are others.

The diagram is a good idea and will help us understand what you are trying to do.

[Baumeister]

I'll try to get the photo posted tomorrow. Imagine my loop like an oval clock with a right-hand turnout at 3 o'clock heading toward the switchyard and a left hand turnout tangent to 12 o'clock upon which cars from the yard return to the mainline.

The idea is that the engine will collect cars from sidings on the main, then pull off via turn-out @ 3:00 then uncouple the engine, which will go to a shed-spur, if I'm playing alone. If I have another driver, the engine will pull cars waiting on a siding back to the main. The switcher will come off a spur where it is stored, shuffle the cars and build a new train. The engine will return but at the opposite end of the new train & pull it back on the main. To run 2 engines, I'd need a throttle for the main & a throttle for the yard and these would have to be insulated from each other.

I can see how this would be SO easy if I had DCC but 2 controllers & 2 engines wold cost $400-$500.

Where can I find a wiring diagram for this kind of wye. Its a wye without a reversing loop.

[Baumeister]

Here is a photo of my layouts and the wye I'm trying to  build between them.  Engine #1 is  on a long arrival spur from the 3 o'clock position of the main. Imagine there are cars behind it.  Engine #2 is on the departure spur & will be pulling cars out of the yard back onto the main.  

If the outside rail of the main is (+) then the switch yard tracks would all have their (+) rails closest to the operator.  The section of track that engine #2 is sitting on would need to be reversable and insulated from the yard and the main.  Am I right?  I'd pull out of the yard onto that track section, stop, reverse the polarity, then proceed onto the mainline. 

Is this a good solution or is there a better way?  (Besides going DCC!) 

If possible, I'd like the mainline to be controlled by one throttle and the switchyard by another.  To do this, I think that when the departure section is reversed, control would change from yard throttle to the mainline throttle. I've built the yard so that it can be portable. I had hoped that I could take it places.

I'm really asking for your help on 2 situations that I want to combine.  First, the wye.  Second, the 2 throttles.

Thanks for trying to understand! 

Baumeister

[Soo Line fan]

First off, no need to worry about not going to DCC, Myself and many others here for various reasons are using DC and are quite happy with it.

It sounds like you have the theory of a Y pretty good.

The layout will run best if you use 2 throttle cab control wiring, AKA block control. Rather than dedicate a throttle to each particular side of the layout, the throttles can be used to control any part.

Lets call the throttles cab A and B.

Cab A can be used to run the mainline and Cab B the yard.

Or by changing a switch B runs the main and A the yard.

Or Cab A can run both the main and the yard. Both throttles can be used anywhere.

This is much more flexible than being locked into having a dedicated throttle for each section. Also moving trains back and forth between sections is clumsy because you have to match the speed and polarity of each pack as you pass from the yard to the main.

Another issue is as you cross over between the 2 sections, for a moment you have used the engine to bridge 2 power packs together. Depending on the internals of the pack, this could cause damage.

Here are a couple of drawings of a cab control, this is using Atlas selectors.

This one is using toggle switches