I presently have 4 power packs on my layout - guess it could be called a 2 cab (or more) system. Question - can I use another spare power pack to power the approach track, turntable and roundhouse by starting the power on the approach track. The Atlas Wiring Book appears to suggest that I could use an Atlas 210 Twin switch and a series of Atlas 205 Connector switches for power to the turntable and roundhouse. Will this work??? Thanks for your help. ???
It will, but wiring the tracks to a different power pack is probably more trouble than it’s worth. You can use a seperate powerpack to operate the turntable - I do. The switches Atlas recomends is exactly what I’m using (I’m no electronics genious!!) The tracks, including the TT track, are all powered by my regular pack or DCC (controlled by a dpdt switch). Using a different powersource to run the loco on the TT would be a problem as far as speed matching - stopping when crossing power districts, etc. My [2c]
First to the terminology: if your power packs are connected to a selection switch for each block, so that any pack can control any section of track, then you have “cab control.” Each power pack is a “cab” and each section of track (between insulated rail joints) is a “block.” The Atlas #210 Twin is a switch that allows you to select one of two “cabs” to control either of two “blocks.” The terminals on each side are designed to be connected to one power pack per pair, and the terminals on the top go to the blocks. Then you can select which of the two power packs will control the block.
Bringing another power pack into the mix will complicate your wiring. Ideally, you want to have one power pack for each main run or loop, and one for the yard (or each yard if you have more than one) For example, if you have two mainline loops, one inside the other, you’d use two “cabs” or power packs, and one #210 Twin. The cabs, let’s call them “A” and “B”, feed the Twin on the left and right side respectively. Each loop will be fed from the terminals at the top of the Twin. If you want to break the loops into smaller sections, the output of the Twin will go to a #205 Connector, and each block will be fed from the outputs of the Connector, and can be turned on or off individually.
Transition into a yard adds another Twin, allowing you to select the mainline cab, or the yard cab. The train would normally be stopped in this transition sec