I am building 2 staging yards on my layout I am concerned about the well being of the decoders in locos sitting in staging. Is it a good idea to isolate the staging tracks using DPDT toggles or is it okay to let them sit on energized track?
Max number of locos is expected to be 5 or 6 on the layout with no more than 3 operating at any given time.
I have all ways heard to put them on a dead/switched siding as they will continue to draw power thus taking away from the actual running loco's which could lead to more problems. All of mine are on switched sidings either in the yard or roundhouse
If you stop your engines and turn off the lights, very little power should be used. Still, if it's a sound engine it will produce "idling" sounds and will still draw a bit of power. There are still occasional stories of a stopped engine "going rogue" after a short or other power glitch and taking off down the track with no one in control.
Some sound decoders have shutdown sequences, but many do not. So, the sound always comes back after a system shutdown or even a short.
Compare this with the small cost of a toggle switch and a length of wire. My roundhouse stalls and staging tracks all have this simple protection.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Hey RayG8:
As has been said, isolating the individual tracks is cheap and easy. Also, depending on your decoders, if the locomotives are not isolated they may all start up (i.e. start making sound) when you turn the track power on. I have mostly Loksounds and they don't do that, but I intend to isolate all my storage tracks anyhow. It can't cause any problems to do so, so why not do it? At the very least you reduce the running time on your decoders.
Leaving the power on to an electrical device that is not being used doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, and having to shut a bunch of locomotives off right after you turn on the layout power would seem to be a PITA. You just have to remember to turn the power on to the right track before trying to acquire the locomotive(s).
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
All tracks in my hidden staging yard can be switched off with SPST toggles. All tracks around the roundhouse turntable can also be switched off.
For my staging yard project I placed a DPDT switch between the command station and the PSX breaker, thereby shuting down the entire yard with one switch. Very simple solution. My primary reason was to silence sound locks idling.
I have DPST switches for each staging track within the yard and I have a master DPST for the entire yard if need be. My layout has a small handful of sound engines, however, most train sets in staging have 2 engines on them. Definitely worth shutting off the tracks. FYI my lower level staging is on it's own district with my NCE system, with a 5AMP supply on that level. 24 staging tracks down below..
Better to over protect than not to have enough..
Neal