Ach... So they think you are using DCC. LION would never have thunked that since him uses it knot. Yes, the track is already a loop. A bus and feeder should cause no problems. (A buss is a kiss; a bus can be either a wire or a vehicle).
If you would have a "loconet" (Whatever *that* is), it may be necessary to have a snubber or something to keep data from bouncing back and forth. This comes from the old 300 ohm TV antenna wiring, and from the older BNC type of computer or TV cabling. It is not so apparent with modern cat 5 cabling since such things (if any) are built into the nodes, and so it may be with some brands of DCC equipment.
On the unreasonable assumption that you would eschew DCC for the old fashioned DC system then you would want to run your buses (Plural of bus) out before even laying the tracks. LION likes to strip the insulation from the bus wires and staple them bare to the benchwork. On your railroad there should be a + and - track bus and a GROUND and +12v dc auxiliary bus for lighting, turnouts, and accessories.
LION uses and installed 25 pair cat 3 telephone cables around the layout with access about every 8 feet or so, for they signals, detection and turnout circuits. Your mileage may vary, actually the LION has SIX such 25 pair cat 3 cables eminating from his control tower. Believe me when I tell you that this is more important that worring about the track power, whcih as I said is a simple + and - bus (for a DCC layout or for each block on a DC layout). You will be very glad to have such neat access to your power as the layout develops and you no longer have access to the underside because of the scenery or other innovations.
Liten to you r LION for him *knows*, after all, him has only now just finshed rewiring the layout of him for the third time.
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS
Mark R. The "rule" (hate that term) is to run the buss to a dead end and not loop it back onto itself. Soooo .... from your command station, send your buss in both directions and dead end them where they meet in the middle. Myself, when I installed my buss some twenty years ago, there wasn't the information available (or the knowledge for that matter) and I ran mine around the room (13X25 with middle penninsula) and tied it right back in forming a loop. Well, here it is, twenty years later and my buss is still wired in that same loop configuration and I've never had any problems with signal loss, out of control engines, etc.. As for the rule about not creating a loop - if you think about it, there are a myriad of loops ! You have your track itself, which really isn't much different than the parallel buss running underneath it. Now you add all your drop feeds .... look at all the potential loop paths ! That's why I don't buy the "rule", and I have twenty years of trouble free operation to back it up .... Mark.
The "rule" (hate that term) is to run the buss to a dead end and not loop it back onto itself. Soooo .... from your command station, send your buss in both directions and dead end them where they meet in the middle.
Myself, when I installed my buss some twenty years ago, there wasn't the information available (or the knowledge for that matter) and I ran mine around the room (13X25 with middle penninsula) and tied it right back in forming a loop. Well, here it is, twenty years later and my buss is still wired in that same loop configuration and I've never had any problems with signal loss, out of control engines, etc..
As for the rule about not creating a loop - if you think about it, there are a myriad of loops ! You have your track itself, which really isn't much different than the parallel buss running underneath it. Now you add all your drop feeds .... look at all the potential loop paths ! That's why I don't buy the "rule", and I have twenty years of trouble free operation to back it up ....
Mark.
Mark & Others
Many get confused between the Track Bus and the Throttle BUS terms.
The track BUS can be done in a loop as your track is in a loop (if you have that type of Layout) and the Wire Bus is tied to the track via Track Drops.
So even IF you cut the BUS Wire under the layout - YOUR Track IS STILL making a complete loop - Thus the same as the BUS Wire under the layout as it is electically parallel!
NOW!
The Throttle BUS - which you use to plug your throttles into
IS NEVER to be configured into a LOOP!
A situation can arise if the Throttle BUS wire is long enough it could cause signal reflections as the signal makes its way around the length of the Throttle BUS and the same signal could arive at the Commad Station a little behing the other - causing a double command being received by the Command Station from a Throttle and confusing the Command Station.
This is why they say NEVER have the THROTTLE BUS in a Loop!
Most everyone that is confused by this statement - IS CONFUSING the Track BUS and the Throttle BUS
We can see this everytime we have a Thread on this forum or any other for that matter.
Hope this helps make the MUD a bit clearer!
BOB H - Clarion, PA
For years. my large layout had bus wires that formed a continuous unbroken loop. At one point, I added snubbers because people more knowledgeable than myself said to do so. But, finally, this past year, I cut the bus wires in half and added a second booster. But, I have to say, when I had the continuous loop bus and no snubbers, I never had any problems.
A snubber is another name for RC Filter, a resistor and a capacitor wired together between the two bus wires. For HO scale, the recommended components are a 100 ohm 1/2 watt resistor and a 0.1uF capacitor.
Here is an excellent site to learn all about snubbers and their recommended applications.
https://sites.google.com/site/markgurries/home/dcc-general-best-practices/wiring-planing/snubbers-rc-filter
Rich
Alton Junction
I don't believe in most of the rules either. My layout buss is in a complete loop and I don't have any problems. If you do decide to end the DCC buss somewhere you should also gap the rails at that location.
I have section breaks at several locations around my layout for troubleshooting purposes that I can disconnect easily along with insulated gaps in the rails so I can completely isolate a section of the layout from the adjacent sections.
I've heard reports of differing outcomes with closing the loop or not. Certainly there are cases like Mark's where it seems to have made no difference. On the other hand, it's difficult to pin down and analyze the causes of the problems associated witb closing the loop. The general practice to terminate the loop avoids those issues arising. A big factor is often the exact length of the loop
I've also heard reports that some DCC systems are more prone to having such issues. Often it's the length of the loop that's the problem, so changing it is often the solution. The change usually suggested besides that is terminating the closed loop, if you have one.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
¡ uʍop ǝpısdn sı ǝɹnʇɐuƃıs ʎɯ 'dlǝɥ
I'm preparing to install wiring for an around the room layout, approximately 12 feet by 20 feet. I'm using 12 guage wire.
My question is simple. Should I break the bus wires at the point most distant from the control station or should I leave the bus as a continuous loop? If the loop should be broken, should I solder in a capacitor between the hot and ground wires and if so, what size capacitor?
Advance thanks for the help.