Staging with a loop

Model Railroader Electronics and DCC
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Here is a question for you DCC experts:I have recently been working on my off pike staging (a year behind schedule…But finely at it!!) and am now ready to get some track down.In a nutshell, the benchwork is about 12’ long by 26" wide, with a 4’ x 4’ blob at the end.The reason for this blob is that I have decided to do a reversing loop too.

Here is a diagram (BTW, nothing is to scale) with two ideas.

Sketch “A” is how I would like it to work…But I’m not sure it will??? With the staging tracks inside the “loop” I make the absolute best use of space with the shortest staging track being about 7’ and the longest being over 9’. Do I need this much trackage…Maybe not, but it sure wouldn’t hurt anything! I would rather have more than I need than not enough!Sketch “B” is a more typical diagram of what I have seen (nothing within the loop) with the staging tracks in front of the loop. In this scenario the longest staging track is about 6’ and the shortest, just over 4’.In both sketches my reasoning for the staging trackage coming from one turnout off the

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Either will work. The yard doesn’t have to be inside the reverse section with DCC because the loop gets reversed right under the train.

For the “A” plan:

Place the gaps just after the turnout at the yard throat so that the throat remains with the main line. Go around the loop and gap again just before it re-enters the main line. That will make that whole loop the reverse section.

Martin Myers

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What Martin said. Don;t waste the space inside the loop, go with plan A and put the staging tracks there. You might also want to look up John Armstrong’s idea of a ‘reverted loop’ which would give you hidden staging yet allow a good chunk of the loop to be visible and sceniced rather then hiding the whole thing.

–Randy

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You can wire the reverser to keep the staging attached to the main, but you might want to move the gap so that the staging tracks are part of the reverser. The reverser is also a circuit-breaker, so you would end up protecting the staging tracks independently of the main. My Tony’s reverser has a 2-amp limit, which should be plenty unless you plan on a lot of idling sound engines on the staging tracks, or strings of passenger cars with incandescent lights powered from the track.

Have you thought about double-ending one or two of the staging tracks, so they could enter and return without backing up?

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Martin: It all makes a bit more sense now and confirms what I thought would work. I just wasn’t 100% sure.

Let me see if I really get this now: Using the PM42, with the reversing gap beyond the throat, the loop is powered by the reversing circuit and the yard by the breaker circuit. Yes?

Randy: I like your idea of Armstrong’s reverted loop and may have to do some checking into that for future expansion / re-building. For now my staging is off in the “back room” of my wood shop. This area may become part of the sceniced road someday…But at the rate I’m building the actual Trainroom it will be one of those “If I live long enough” types of things!

Mr. Beasley: I hadn’t given thought to double ending. That is really a good idea and I could easily do it giving even more flexibility.

Thanks for all the great input guys!

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my staging yard is contained within a loop and all tracks are double ended. the yard is operated in one direction only which eliminates any reversing moves. the number of tracks is limited because of them running around the loop but more tracks could be used if I had a longer straight section.

one advantage of having everything operating in the same direction means that the polarity of the reversing section can be controlled by contacts on the switch machine. – much cheaper than a reversing unit.