Hi! Basic O27 tubular track question: Is it possible to run two separately controlled loops (one at a time) that will cross the same 90-degree Crossover (6-65020) track? As always, thanks.
You can do that but make sure the cross-over is insulated for both center rails on the bottom, there are two silver pieces of metal underneath and normally Lionel & other companies like to connect these peices together but some electrical tape on both sides of the metal piece and a thin piece of cardboard between the tape. May have to open a hold down or two on the crossover.
Lee F.
Lee: My neighbor told me about the same thing but I thought that I’d ask the “experts”. Many thanks.
I have done it for both 45 and 90 degree crossings. A lot in the difficulty will depend on the mfgr [lionel, kline, GG, Ross, ???] and the vintage [current production or pw].
As previously said you need “to insulate the track”, but actually you are making the power go in each direction separately. It isn’t easy for me to write it, but here goes.
Look carefully at the bottom of the track and you will see the ‘metal’ pieces. you have to remove them totally and connect wires - 3 of them – from one side of the crossing to the other-- twice so both directions will work. use electrician tape to keep the wires separate and insulated. you can connect each wire to one of the hold down clamps. solder helps. flat wire works best. After you remove the ‘silver pieces’ and connect the wires in each direction it will allow the power to go in only one directions. Now for wrap around…
You now need look at the track from the top. in some cases the track around the center diamond is a single piece of rail that is bent and its intent is to carry power around the crossing. you need cut that, remove a 1/16 of an inch to create a gap, other wise power coming in from the left will wrap around and go out the top, if you get the picture. The PW versions were all metal, the mpc era are placstic, both have the wraparound issue.
hope it wasn’t too confusing. once you start it will be pretty simple to complete.
ralph
There should be no need to alter anything but the connections for the center rails. The outside rails can be common to both loops, just as if the loops were connected with turnouts. After removing the plate that connects all the center-rail sections together, you should need no more than two wires, to connect together the two center rail sections of each loop, without connecting a center rail of either loop to the other loop’s center rail.
Bob and Ralph: I think I understand. We’ll see. Many thanks for your help.
If I recall right if you look in back issues of CTT if think the showed how to make the cross over insulated. Or it might have been that other magizine.
Traindaddy1: if you really want a simple, non-fancy version, leave the track as is and just use dummy pins on the center rails for just ONE of the paths. Picturing a plus sign, you can, for example, use dummy pins on the horizontal path and steel pins on the vertical path.
If you do this, one train, call it TRAIN A, has a continual, unbroken path thru the cross over (the vertical path of the plus sign). The other train, call it TRAIN B, the one that will have dummy pins in the center rail on both sides of the crossover (the horizontal part of the plus sign), lands up using the power source for TRAIN A when it goes thru the cross over.
I’ve done this many, many times prior to using DCS. My goal was two-fold:
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Use a separate power source for both paths.
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Be able to stop one track from wrecking into the other at the crossover.
My solution isn’t as flexible in controlling things as those mentioned above but it accomplishes the goals. So you might want to consider if a simple solution will work for you.
- walt
traindaddy1/PhilaKnight - CTT September '06;page 27.
Needed to alter a crossover lately myself.[tup]
Walt’s way of doing it is sure to connect the two transformer outputs together every time train B crosses. For the three persons in the world who have not yet seen my advice, doing this creates a fault current which will not trip the circuit breaker if both loops are powered from separate outputs of a single transformer and can make high voltage spikes which may wreak havoc with electronics in locomotives.
Thanks to all.