I am finely attacking my “off pike” staging project head on, taking out the temporary that is in place and building permanent. I run HO with a Digitrax DCC system and would appreciate any input.
I have two levels of “around the room” in the Trainroom and (up to, maybe even more) 24 ft. of wall space in an adjoining room. My plan is to build two levels of benchwork here that would be approximately 30" deep.
My major question, to you folks with experience here, is this: How close can I lay the staging tracks without frustration when handling rolling stock while fiddling? This will be the area where all of the “through trains” and many of the peddlers originate. Yes, I know this info is written about in some of the books, but I would really like to hear from some “hands on” folk.
Secondly, I had a brain storm the other day and thought, why not build reversing loops into this staging also. The problem with this, of course, would arise when I’m operating alone (remember that it is located in another room) and / or would like to have a continuous run through these loops.
I know it can be done (just not sure how) and it seems to me that I actually read something in either MR or MRC about automating the turnout to accomplish this without actually having to “be there”. Any ideas? Was I dreaming about reading the article? Or does it really exist somewhere?
The turnouts would be held in place by a mild spring…in the through position. When the trains run around the far curve and return toward the points over the diverging route, they will force the points to the correct position. At least, that’s the idea. So, if the turnout has an overcentre spring, it has to be removed, and then a light tension spring placed to tug the throwbar such that it is always to one side.
Regarding your automatic reversing loop, I’ve heard of using a very light spring on the points of a turnout. The spring holds the points one way. When the train approches the points from the points end, it heads into the loop, when it comes back through (approaching from the frog end) the spring gives way and allows the train through without de-railing. Of course, it would be a mess to reverse direction with a train half-way out of the turnout.
Another way would be to use a proximity sensor to operate an electric switch machine.
As far as automating the wiring, I hope someone else can answer that for you.
If you use a Tortoise switch machine to throw the points of the turnout, you can get a Hare turnout controller from DCC Specilaties and set it up to do what they call Auto-throw. What this does is when a train approaches the turnout against the points, it automatically throws the points to the leg the train is approaching on.
I’m a firm believer in the value of spring switches in staging - especially if you have dead frogs and not power routing. (I use live frogs, but still use spring switches where facing-point traffic always takes the same branch.)
As for the reverse loop - this is where one of those DCC reverser modules earns its keep. DC is a little more complex, requiring a stop to assure that all is electrically well before proceeding. At least, that’s the way I prefer to do it when I “fire and forget” a train that needs reversing into the staging complex. With an auto-stop in the system, it becomes “Fire, then deal with it later.”
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - with LOTS of staging)
For your track spacing in the fiddle yard, a good idea is to allow enough room to get your fingers and thumb in between rows of rolling stock to rerail it. In order to determine exactly how much space this should be, lay a couple of pieces of flex track side by side with rolling stock on both, and make several attempts at rerailing something. If your hand knocks pieces off of the adjacent track, widen the spacing between them. Keep this up until you can reach in and rerail something without knocking more off, and that’s the space you need between all your yard tracks. It’s also a good idea to use lots of Atlas rerailers in your fiddle yard trackage.
The spring loaded turnout is the easiest option for a run-around loop, but you’ll also need a PS-REV or similar auto-reversing module on that section of track.
All I’ve ever seen on turnouts are the over-center spring to hold the point rails and thus I’m having a bit of a time wrapping my brain around this idea.
I think I understand the concept of this sprung turnout, but really have no clue has to how to make it work.
Is it just very lightly held in a given position? And if so, would that be the “through” position? That would seem to make the most sense. But then, is it opening and closing with each wheel set? And would that make a DCC auto reverse unit go crazy.
Maybe this is only a “tease” for my brain…But it’s a good one so far!
For your reversing loop to work…at all!..you must gap it at each route after the frog…IOW moving from points to frog, at the end of each route of the manufactured turnout, itself, you leave a 1/16" gap, perhaps a touch less. Then, your reversing module can do its work being constrained only to the resulting loop of gapped track. The problem will come when you forget to ensure that each and every consist plus locomotive is short enough that at some point in the loop all the train is contained entirely between the gaps.* This is critical.
*You don’t have to worry about coal hoppers, box cars, and such, but you will have to worry about pusher engines, lighted pax cars, or any device where power runs up to a mechanism to accomplish “work”. If even one such axle is on the wrong side of the gaps, either end, you will confound your reverser and have problems.
To make a spring switch out of any commercial product except a Peco, all you need is a soft spring to hold it in the preferred position and an insulated frog - no power routing switches, please. (A Peco can be sprung if the locking spring is removed.) The spring holds it just hard enough to keep the points against the stock rail in the “preferred” direction, but must be able to give when a car comes in from the “trailing point only” side without pinching the flanges too hard. I have made suitable springs from straightened paper clips - they do require some experimentation and some careful adjusting.
My hand-laid spring switches resemble trolley turnouts, with only one point. The closure rail on the other side is filed to a point, then soldered to the stock rail with normal flangeway clearance between the two (the closure rail is gapped short of the frog.) By using a long point rail, just the rail tension is enough to hold it against the stock rail - so, strictly speaking, it’s a ‘springless’ switch.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - with spring switches in staging)