Intro & Postwar Relay Control Question

[Anonymous]

Folks:

My name is tim, and I've been lurking for awhile here and decided to jump aboard with a question. I'm newly retired and, with my own room in our house to practice my hobbies, I'm planning on a permanent setup for my postwar trains. When I was about eight, I inherited the trains of my older cousins. They each had a set containing a 2025, 6466W, a Sunoco 2 dome tanker, and SP caboose, a NYC gondola car, and a flat car. One of the flat cars is an Evans autoloader. There's also a pair of 1033 transformers and an LW, which my parents bought when I inherited the trains. I'm guessing that these two sets were from 1952?

One of the 2025s died decades ago and I've just purchased a 2035 to replace it. I also have a 41 Army switcher and a couple of the 7" ore cars to go with it. i would like, at some time in the future, to add a 224 and some passenger cars to make my line complete.

My question:

My room is 13'2" x 11'. I have several other hobbies I'm pursuing in the room, besides an exerciser in the middle of the floor. So far, my plans have evolved to the layout described here: An outer loop hugging the wall with O straights and O72 curves on all four corners. An inner loop 4" inside, also O. These will be attached to the walls. My concession to modernity are two pairs of Gargraves O-100 switches, two RH and two LH. Each pair is connected to it's mate on the curved sections, and one pair is deployed on one wall, with the other deployed on the other wall. This allows routing between the loops.

Beside the Gargraves switches, I have several pairs of 1121s. Each side with a pair of Gargraves has a switch that leads across the room to another level, one upper and one lower. Each level has a reversing loop. These are mounted against one wall, one above the main loop, and one below. By going across the room like this, I'm able to get enough room to pass under and above the main loop level.

So, most of the complexity of this layout is located against one wall on a 3' x 11' bench. Each level has a ramp coming across the room which ascends or descends to a 225* turn around, which then routes across the room on that level to a turn around loop. The upper and lower levels thus look more or less like dog bones.

For the main loops, the inner one will be able to serve as a bypass, so that I can run two trains on the outer loop in the same or opposite directions. My reason for joining this forum was the elegant little circuit Mr Bob Nelson once described for opposite operation on a loop with siding:

Wire two relays as follows: 

 

Vacc--R1--E1--K1L1--E2--K1S1(NO)--E8 

Vacc--R2--WT1--K2L1--WT2--K2S1(NO)--E8 

WT1--K1S2(NC)--E3 

WT2--K1S3(NO)--E4 

E7---K2S2(NC)--E5 

E7---K2S2(NO)--E6 

 

where 

 

Vacc is the fixed accessory voltage, returned to ground 

 

E1 is the east control rail outside the switches 

E2 is the west control rail outside the switches 

E3 is the westbound control rail between the switches 

E4 is the eastbound control rail between the switches 

E5 is the eastbound center rail between the switches 

E6 is the westbound center rail between the switches 

E7 is the center rail elsewhere 

E8 is the (grounded) outside rails elsewhere 

 

R1 and R2 are resistors 

 

WT1 and WT2 are wiring tiepoints 

(All points labeled WT1 are connected together; all points labeled WT2 are connected together.) 

 

K1 is a 3-pole relay 

K1L1 is the coil of relay K1 

K1S1, K1S2, and K1S3 are contacts on relay K1 

K2 is a 2-pole relay 

K2L1 is the coil of relay K2 

K2S1 and K2S2 are contacts on relay K1

 

Which I intend to use. My problem is powering the trains between the loops. I can't use the same transformer for both inner and outer main loop, because I want to be able to operate the trains separately, but I also want to be able to operate them on the same loop.

 

I don't want to have fault problems when trains pass between two loops powered by separate transformers, but I don't have enough room for train-length sections between loops. All I have are the two joined curved sections of the Gargraves O-100 switches, which may be about 24" in length, which can be powered separately from either loop.

 

Is there a way to "hand over" locomotives passing on these sections between loops that will prevent faulting in my transformers? Some way I can deploy control relays (and possibly circuitry) that will allow reliable operations?

 

Incidentally, I would also have the same issue when trying to pass a train from the inner main loop to either ramp going to the reversing loops on the upper and lower levels. These levels will also have some other routes, where my 41 switcher and ore cars will operate, so they can't have the same power source as the main loops either, if I'm to maintain independent control on those levels.

 

Can anyone suggest a way I can accomplish this?

 

(Aside: this somewhat odd layout is actually a small one against one wall on three levels, with the two main loops going all the way around the room. I need to do this so that I can have my other items set up, mainly a large desk with computer and ham radio, and a workbench on the other wall, and the exercise bike in the middle. The bottom line is that I can't have the train occupying the middle of the room, nor have it very far away from the walls on three sides. I also plan that, at a later time, to set up a loop around the room from the upper reversing loop. This would pass above the two main loops on the middle level.)

 

Thank you.