Keep in mind, I’m a newbie. [:D] What I want to do is to be able to temporarily cut power to certain parts of the same line. In other words, say I had an Engine House with two lanes and two tracks (probably split by a switch close by) and I wanted to run one engine at a time, that is run one engine from the house while the other remains in the house. How would I do this?
DC or DCC?
If DCC you really don’t need to do this but you can. You would do it the same way as if DC if you wanted it
For DC you’ll want a Single Pole Single Throw (SPST) switch. It’s basically an on/off switch. You’ll want one for each track. You should be able to get it from Radio Shack, some Lowe’s, HD and Ace Hardware stores for about a buck
You’ll also want to get something like this too http://www.amazon.com/Model-Railroad-Wiring-Second-Railroader/dp/0890243492
ratled
I’m not quite sure yet which I am going to use. It’ll probably be DC though. Although I do have one DCC engine.
Thanks for the advice and for the link to that book. I am about to order it now.
As Ratled said, single pole single toggle switches (SPST) will work to cut power to the track regardless if you are doing DC or DCC. First you will need to electrically isolate one of the rails on each of those engine house tracks. This can be done with an insulated rail joiner or by cutting a gap in the track. Run the wire from the switch to that isolated rail.
That sounds easy enough. Thanks for all your help, guys.
Sean
Btw, how would go about running a wire to the rail from the SPST switch? That is to say, how would I attach the wore to it? Would it have to be soldered?
I solder mine to the underside of the rail before installing the track. I also have a few feeders added later that I soldered to the outside of the rail. I believe that there have been posts with photos of how to do this unobtrusively.
Practice first on spare track.
Karl
Thanks, Karl. Like your signature too.
[:-^]
Hi Melvin,
From the way it sounds you are in the early stages of a layout. This is NOT the time to make things fixed and secure.
You need to plan and play some first. Because of this you can hold off on the soldering. There are some things you are going to need. either go to a good train store or go to a good one that has an INTERNET presence.
You should have in your possession - some insulating rail joiners
- Some atlas rail joiners with lead wires attached to them.
This way you can move things around until you get them where you like them without committing to that set up.
Also Atlas makes some sliding connectors that are much easier for a nubie to use than to get involved with DPDT switches this early.
If you read those books that were mentioned you will see how to run your power from your power pack to the switches and then to the isolated sections of your track, so that your one power pack will serve a number of different sections.
The other way of handling what you are talking about is to use “PECO” Insulated turnouts, these are power routing turnouts that only allow power to flow in the direction that the points on the turnout are pointed to. If your layout isn’t too big you wouldn’t need any switches at all, just let the turnouts do the job.
Hope this is of some help. If you need more clarification come back and just say so. We are all here to help you.
But I do suggest getting those Kalmbach or Atlas books on wiring. You really need to understand what and why you are doing things. These books are now written for DC and/or DCC.&nbs
It’s going to be a big layout. I have pieced it together track-wise and when I build the table it is going to be about 15 feet long and 4 feet wide. It’s actually not a single table though. It’s actually going to be 2 tables 4’ x 6’ connected by a 6’ x 1 1/2’ wall mount that will have a very gradual decline which leads the second line to a loop hidden underneath one of the tables (underneath my freight yard table). So, will have a total of 10 switches and a sh-tload of flex track.
I thank you very graciously for your advice. My dad was telling me basically the same thing about using insulated connectors and special turnouts instead of soldering.
Hi Melvin,
i am not sure, but i worry about the very gradual decline. Beautiful words, but i think the grade will turn out to be 5% or more, pretty steep.
Good luck
Paul
So you think 6 feet would be too steep of a decline and incline? I planned it to be both. The tracks will paralell each other and then form a loop on either side of the section. In other words, the engine will ascend and descend on the same hill. I figured it would be gradual enough compared to the foam hills I have seen in hobby stores. I wanted to be as less steep as possible so as not to strain the engines.
Hi Melvin,
Since you already have one DCC engine give DCC a thought. With DCC you control each engine by it’s number. That would eliminate any special wiring as you can select the engine you want to move. This is one of many features of DCC and you can run and control as many at one time as your track will allow.
The advice of installing things on a temporary basis until you get further along is very good.
I’m builing a yard and am securing the track with hair pins push into the foam so I can test the track and move it if necessary
Happy Railroading
Bob