Many years ago I was an avid HO modeler (60’s).The hobby lapsed as I got married, resurged as my sons became older and ebbed as they grew. I am now in my late 50’s with grandkids and decided to buy a Harry Potter train set for my grandson. Somehow unbeknownst to me I now have a ton of O gauge trains and a “temporary” 6x10 layout in my basement. For better or worse I went with Fastrack because that is what came with the aforementioned set. I have since purchased an RS-1 transformer and an older ZW transformer(besides one with the set). I have a couple of questions:
!. How do you use block sections to isolate and run two trains separeately? I was told to placed the sections on each side of the switch track?
My ZW transformer whistle function doesn’t appear to work & any help would be appreciated.
Connect all the outside rails together (except for the short control rails on non-derailing turnouts) and to the transformer common (U terminal on a traditional ZW).
Put a gap or insulating pin in the center rail at each block boundary. Connect the center rail of each block to the common terminal of a single-pole-double-throw-center-off (SPDT-CO) switch. Connect the other two switch terminals to the terminals of whichever two transformer controls you want to use (A, B, C, or D on a traditional ZW).
Operate a train by switching each block that the train will use to the control that will power it, keeping the train under a single control as it moves around the layout. Do not run between blocks not powered by the same control.
Hey, Lionel makes isolating block pieces for Fastrack, which might be the easiest thing for you to use. They pass the outer rails through but include a block in the center rail, effectively separating the power fed to the track behind and after this piece of track. You will also need additional terminal pieces of track. You can also modify Fasttrack to make blocks, but I’m not sure how to do that without breaking/permanently altering the piece.
Thanks for the help guys. CSX, I like the Hogwarts set for its apparent “visualaccuracy” but now that I have some engines with railsounds and crewtalk I wish it contained those features.
