Sometimes we get stuck in routines- I spent the past three years on my workbench rebuilding rolling stock. It kept messes in the house to a minimum and I avoided the late middle age pains and suffering of crawling underneath my layout table.
But- no more! Time to get that track from pinned down status to "laid down" status.
So- as I look at my trackwork as a rectangle with the longer length running left and right-side to side- all rails on the top side of the plan are one color of feeder wire, and those on the bottom side are a different color of feeder wire, right?
Is the polarity of the top rails forward (from right to left) and the bottom rails reverse (from left to right)- or does it really matter for wiring purposes?
Cedarwoodron
if you have a loop, it would be better to think in terms of the color of inner/outer rails. If there are no loops, outer rail might be closer to the wall. A reversing section needs special attention.
greg - Philadelphia & Reading / Reading
Hello all,
Are you wiring for DC or DCC?
Polarity definitely matters for both.
In DC it determines which is forward and reverse. If you are wiring in blocks then a single common can be used with "hot" feeders for each block.
In DCC if you cross the polarity you will short out the booster and cause possible damage.
Which system are you using?
Hope this helps.
"Uhh...I didn’t know it was 'impossible' I just made it work...sorry"
cedarwoodronSo- as I look at my trackwork as a rectangle with the longer length running left and right-side to side- all rails on the top side of the plan are one color of feeder wire, and those on the bottom side are a different color of feeder wire, right?
I think you are describing an oval trackplan, but you just as well could be describing a switching layout set out on rectangular benchwork. Most of us think inside vs outside, but the way you have asked the question is unconventional enough to make us wonder what else do we need to know that you aren't telling us.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
If inner and outer rail is too easily confused, and it sometimes does get us turned around, think of the rail closest to any of the walls vs. those closest to the central pit/aisle, or closest rail to the edge from which you are likely to reach.
I have a donut shape, or around-the-walls layout with a central walk-in operating pit. When I crawl under and begin to mate feeders with bus, I always mate black with black, and those are the rails closest to the walls nearby. You can have any other colour and you'll know it isn't the black one, so no confusion hooking them up.
DCC or DC...makes no nevermind; even one wire crossed to the wrong bus or rail will have you in trouble.
I have no problem keeping my polarities straight, but for those that do, push a flat car around the layout with two different colors of tape, one color on the left side of the flat car and the other color on the right side of the flat car. Hard to screw things up that way.
Rich
Alton Junction
To make it simple; two wires, one to each rail, never the two should meet.
Unless you have a reversing loop, thats a whole different thing.
What you could do; take a car any car, place on track, do not remove before your done. mark one side +
the other - .or red and black, the color of the wires you'l use. As you move the car along the track you will see witch wire/color needs to be where
I have a rectangular east-west DC switching layout with a small yard ladder and a few angled track runs.
Uncle Butch has a simple and sensible solution- as I lay track down, I mark + and "minus" along alternate sides of track, and use two different color wires for feeders.
Now why didn't I think of that
Good advice, but here's another very important tip to go with it. Test your wiring as you do it. That way you'll discover any issues right after you create them, making it much easier to troubleshoot in your most recent work while your memory of what you were doing is still fresh.
Mike Lehman
Urbana, IL
Hi Cedarwoodron:
Some time ago there was a post about a very simple way to keep your polarity sorted out as you connect the wires. It used a 9 volt battery, a buzzer, some leads and a couple of alligator clips. IIRC, the device was clipped to both tracks, and if there were no shorts the buzzer would stay silent. However, if you attached a lead that crossed from one track to the other the buzzer would sound.
Anybody have any more detailed info on said device?
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Many multimeters have a continuity check feature. Same in practice as the device you describe,, Dave.
Dave, I used that device, easy to rig up with a buzzer from Radio Shack. I believe that Alan Gartner provides some info about it on his DCC wiring web site.
Bear "It's all about having fun."
I built oone, never used it. One side of the battery to an alligator clip. The oother side of the battery tot he buzzer (if it's an electronic type buzzer it will have polarity markings, so match that up, the electro-mechanical types don;t care). Free side of buzzer to another alligator clip. Clip the clips to the rail, or a pair of feeders. If it buzzes, you have a condition with the left rail touching the right rail - missing gap in a live frog turnout or a feeder pair wired to the wrong sides of the bus.
I eneded up never using the one I made (and even put in a nice project box) because early on I started using joiners with feeders at every rail joint, and I made them in two colors and made sure to always put the red onthe same side as I proceeded to lay track. Then all the red feeders hooked to the red bus, and all the white feders hooked to the white bus. It was easy to not make a mistake just matching colors, and when laying track it was easy enough to look back at the previous joint to make sure you put the proper color feeder on the next joint you were making.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
I try to think of it as the north or south rail. If you are standing in the aisle and left is west, right is east, like on a map, then the nearest rail is the south rail and the other rail is the north rail. I use bell wire which is a pair of wires. One is red and one is white. Just like a compass, I use white for north and red for south. Do this every time and you should not have any problems. Tie all of your white wires together for the common. Hook up the reds to the block selectors, or directly to the power pack if you are not using blocks.
Polarity matters because your direction switch might be reversed. If it is, just reverse the two wires on your powerpack.
I look at it the same way that Lone Wolf Santa Fe does. In my case I have 10 blocks on a DC layout. These blocks are all connected to the "south" rail and they are color coded. However, with so many colors, I had to use black for my No. 8 block. Not to worry, however, as the block wires are 22 guage wire and my "north" or common is an 18 guage black wire; easy to tell apart. Additionally, I also have some duplicate colors, such as red, for some electrically isolated areas, using on-off toggles, in staging, my engine house and a house track. These are identified by taking a Sharpie marker pen and writing what that wire is connected to on a piece of masking tape which is wrapped around that wire in a tag fasion. In fact, all of the wires under my layout are labeled this way. There is then no mistaking as to where that wire is connected and where it should go to your terminal board or your power source or your controllers. I have found that it also helps to list your color coding on a piece of paper, in case things get a little confused.