FasTrack Wiring Question

Classic Toy Trains Forum
1

Hi All,

My spade connectors from Mouser arrived today. I am getting ready to wire up the FasTrack on my layout. Right now each loop of the layout is being powered by a terminal track only. After talking to my local hobby shop owner he suggested that if I want to run both Lionel and MTH locomotives I should connect wires from points around the loops to the transformer individually. Reading the Lionel FasTrack book they reccomend running wires from one section of track to the next in a loop. Which way is better? I am leaning towards running from each terminal section back to the transformer so that there is no power loss from section to section.

If I decide to run seperate wires from each terminal section to the transformer, what is the best way to attach them all to the same 2 terminals on the transformer?

Thanks in advance.

SK

2

With TMCC a buss system (loops) works fine but from what has been said on the forum MTH’s DCS works best, requires, home runs to the transformer. TMCC will work with both ways.

3

MTH’s DCS works better when the feed wires are paired and run back in a “star” pattern. You want to create “junction boxes” where a paired feed from a transformer goes to a point and then pairs of wires for individual drops run in pairs from these points. This is the opposite of traditional “bus” wiring where there are main feeder lines with taps pulled from them wherever you need power or common/return. You can use terminal strips to create the “junction boxes”.