How do you wire up a 153 block signal with the 153C contactor?? Is there any other way to wire these up?? Maybe using insulated track sections?? Those pressure 153C contactors never work right for me. Could I wire them up the same way with my 45N gateman and switch tower, using an insulated track section? If so, could you explain how you wire this up?? Thanks.
You can use the infered actuator made by Lionel or you can use an insulated outside rail track section with a Radio shack relay and a small bridge rectifier, also made by Radio Shack. The RS relay has a DC coil, so that's why you need the rectifier.
George
153 contactors are fussy and not very reliable. The Toy Train review has an article with schematics to do what George is saying. Radio Shack sells 10 amp relays w/12 volt DC coils cheap.
http://www.toytrainrevue.com/
Bob Nelson described a method in another thread using just a control rail and a third lamp to act as sort of a voltage sink (don't know how elese to describe it - made that term up).
http://cs.trains.com/trccs/forums/t/145868.aspx
Here is an insulated track activated controller which was a feature in CCT a while back. It works great.
Here's the basic unit constructed on a breadboard which requires no soldering. How simple can it get? There's a diode, relay and capacitor along with some jumpers and terminal blocks on the breadboard.
Here is the train outside the insulated block so that the "Normally Closed" (NC) contacts are energized. It's a little difficult to see but only the green "Clear block" is illuminated. See that the lockon connected to insulated track is off.
In this shot the engine in in the block, on the insulated section of track, which closes the "Normally open" (NO) contacts on the relay to illuminate the red "block occupied" lamp.
You can also tell from the illuminated lockon connected to the insulated straight.
A trip to Radio Shack, a few minutes, a few bucks and you are in business. By experimenting with different sizes of capacitors you can control the length of time the relay stays tripped after the last car leaves the block. Some say the capacitor is needed to prevent the relay from errant cycling but I have not found that to be the case.
After I built the first one, I ordered components from All Electronics and used a PC board rather than the breadboard. That called for soldering but the cost was less than ½.
That looks like a good circuit. Hard to tell from the photo but does the relay you use have a twin set of contacts (DPDT) for stopping a train as well as activating the signal lights?
I also have a version with a fixed voltage 5v rectifier, an IC with a heat sink, providing the switched power to the relay which allows you to run everything down stream on DC. That extends bulb life and makes using light emitting diodes (LED) a no brainer.
Could I use the insulated track section with a lockon. And when the engine hits that insulated track section the light on the block signal changes. I am a little hazy on what exactly the block signal is supposed to do. When an engine goes by it turns red...then turns green later....then turns red when the engine goes by again..and repeating that cycle, correct? I am just trying to find the best way to wire up these with what I have. Infered things must be good too. Thanks.
The block signal's purpose is to prevent collisions in multi train operations with make believe toy train engineers. They can be pretend or with twin pole relays, fully automated for automatic stop control. Check out figure 2 in the toy train revue link I posted. A picture is worth a thousand words. The block signal should be located behind the block that controls the signal to stop a second train from plowing into the first train's caboose. Or it can be located at cross tracks to prevent collisions. The wiring in the crossing situation is a little more complex as the relays need to be tied to each other so they don't cancel each other out when two trains touch their control rails at the same time. In addition, you can use power resistors to trickle juice into stop blocks to prevent E units from cycling or for command signals from getting erased when the train is stopped.
If you want to use just a control rail and no relay for pretend block control (lights only), you can do this with a third lamp wired in a series to one of the signal lamps using the instructions Bob Nelson gave us in the second link I posted. Lamp wattage is important here for it to work properly.
"How simple can it get?" Quite a bit. All you need is another lamp rated for the same voltage and about twice the current of those in the signal, or two more of the same lamp as in the signal. If the signal uses number 53 lamps, this is a number 57. Wire green to common (outside rails generally), red to accessory voltage (or the center rail if you want), block-signal common to the control rail. Wire the extra lamp(s) in parallel with the block signal's red lamp.
Bob Nelson
lionel2 How do you wire up a 153 block signal with the 153C contactor?? Is there any other way to wire these up?? Maybe using insulated track sections?? Those pressure 153C contactors never work right for me. Could I wire them up the same way with my 45N gateman and switch tower, using an insulated track section? If so, could you explain how you wire this up?? Thanks.
Sorry you are having a problem with the 153C contactors, I have them on my layout under my K-Line Snap Track and have no problems, I find them quite reliable, my track is of course screwed into place and perhaps it's the built in ties on the K-Line Snap Track that help keep the contactor in place, but time after time of running my trains, the signals perform well.
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