Bachmann EZ-Track, Zephyr and Atlas Turntable w/ motor


M

MikeL

Member
Can anyone suggest the best way to connect Bachmann track to an Atlas Turntable (with the motor)?

And also how to connect the Digitrax Zephyr to the turntable to make it turn?

And how to power the other (non mainline) tracks coming off the turntable?

Thanks in advance. This confuses the hell out of me... even the wiring diagram for the turntable made me nod off in the middle of reading......
 
Mike, E-Z track is not going to connect to a standard Atlas turntable, assuming you mean one like this: http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/150-305. It's surface mounted and the E-Z tracks are on that plastic roadbed and way too high. You'd have to make a transition ramp from the E-Z track to standard sectional track starting at least 10 inches before the turntable. The ideal solution would be to make your ramp come off the main line and into the yard, so you have a good run of standard track before you get to the turntable.

The turntable motor needs 12 volts AC or DC and a Zephyr doesn't have accessory terminals like a regular powerpack. Either an old toy train powerpack or a 12 volt wall wart will work. You'd need to supply power to the motor and then bring back wires to a switch on a control panel to activate the turntable.

If you're asking about stub tracks that come off the turntable, they will need to have a pair of wires soldered to each set of tracks. You can run the power wires off your main power bus to the stub tracks and then drop a pair of soldered feeders down to the auxiliary bus. Each track can then be controlled by your Zephyr.
 
We actually got the Atlas one (http://www.atlasrr.com/Images/Track/Trackphotos/305.GIF) and the motor that goes with it. Since I just bought a DigiTrax Zephyr today, this will probably be on a back burner for a few days til I master the courage to face it again. All the wiring alone makes me think I need to (a) hire an electrician on retainer, and (b) consider buying either stock in our power company, or my own small nuclear reactor......

But thanks for the tips below. I saw the track height problem and think I have that worked out by simply using a dremel to cut off the end of the EZ-Track segments. But the wiring will still be the challenge, but the way you've described it, I think I get the idea. I'll post back here this weekend (or earlier if able) to ask if my proposed wiring solution is viable and sensible.
 
Hi Mike,
I have an atlas turntable as well. Sounds like you have worked out how you will align the tracks with the turntable. The turntable motor will need DC as a regular locomotive would (motors are similar) allowing you to reverse polarity/direction as needed. It sounds like you are new to DCC? If so, you will probably not have an extra decoder lying around. I had an old one kicking about so I used it on the turntable motor. I hooked the motor up to the decoder as you would a train motor and tied the wheel/track wires of the decoder to the track. I programmed the starting voltage high (192 I think) and gave it a new address from the default 3. Now I can call up the turntable from the handheld, click it up a notch, and run it like a loco forward and back.

As for wiring the track, I didn't have any instructions. If the instructions you have don't work out, here is how I did it.

What I did has lay the first track leading into the turntable. Then I took power from the lead-in track over to the 2 terminals on the turntable. I lined up the turntable with the lead-in track.
Now the question is whether or not the 2 wires are the right way around. If they are not, when a train rolls on to the turntable, it will likely short out. There are better and safer ways to test if the wires are the right way around than using an engine. I used a voltmeter. If I choose a rail on the lead-in track and the matching turntable rail with the voltmeter, I am looking for zero volts. I could also use a 12 volt or car lightbulb instead of a voltmeter. It should not light up. If I choose a rail on the lead-in and the opposite rail on the turntable, I should see voltage greater than zero/ the light burns bright.

I am not sure if this is making any sense to you, so I will leave further details out for now and will try to answer any questions you have at this point.

As you add tracks leading into the turntable, mine had the small letters A and B for each position. My lead-in was to an A position, so I wired the other A position tracks "in parallel" with the lead-in track. left rail wire to left rail wire, right to right... For the B positions, I reverse the wires on those tracks...

I will leave it to you at this point as I am not sure this is useful info to you and I might be rambling... let me know.

Keith
 
I think you've got it right on te money SnowMan - thanks very much for your post! I bought 2 Atlas 3-switch units and "chained" them together with the metal plates that come with them. I also got track joiner to wire things from Atlas which I will wire back to the switches - these will let me switch power on/off to any track coming off the turntable if I should want to. I'll wire those back to one of the same Rail A/Rail B units on my Zephyr so they're getting the same power as the mainline gets.

For the position of the turntable, I bought a DH162 DCC decoder yesterday, which I will wire exactly as you suggest below - the motor power as if it were the train wheels, and the power to track/mainline power so that I can control the decoder just like a locomotive. (I hope I described that correctly just now), but the idea will be that I can then operate the turntable position with forward/reverse throttle when I switch to that decoder value.

I have everything I need except a multi-purpose meter, and since it's Christmas Day, I'll have to wait til tomorrow to buy that - nowhere I can find is open today to sell me one - Sears, Home Depot, Radio Shack, Target are all closed and can't think of anywhere else to try.

Oh well - 1 day won't kill me.... guess I should relax and enjoy the day.
 
Hi Mike,
I am glad the post was useful. As I mentioned, any 12 volt bulb should work as well as a voltmeter. I had a couple car bulbs for other purposes around the track, but a small bulb like a locomotive bulb should work as well (not an LED, a good old filament bulb). I don't think the power on the tracks is too high to blow it.

As for the decoder, you mentioned "motor power as if it were train wheels". I believe you meant motor wires on the decoder to the motor and wheel wires from the decoder to the track. Be careful, I would hate to see you pop a decoder because of me...

I am busy prepping for the afternoon visits with the kids and making cards on the computer for thier cousins...
busy busy busy...

Have a Great Day,
Keith
 
Thanks Keith - I'm printing both of your posts so when I can actually sit down to do this, I'll get it right. Worst case, burning out a $24 decoder wouldn't be so bad - as opposed to frying the Zephyr or a loco for example - bt I wouldn't say it's an ambition!

But printing everything out and rereading as I sit down to do it will make it all clear. I understand the specifics - I just need to make sure I do it right the first time.

Have fun with the visits and Merry Christmas.
 
So after successfully procrastinating for a week or two, while I worked on other parts of my layout, I've now successfully used the DH163 to connect the turntable to the Zephyr as Loco 3. Thanks for the help and suggestions on that Keith.

My next issue with this is: how do I connect it as a static device so I can use it as a switch/turnout, rather than as a locomotive address? Digitrax is closed for the holiday, and the directions are only for larger throttle units.....

Thanks!
 
Hi Mike,
I am not sure how or if you can configure the decoder to act as a switch/turnout. I have built some switch/turnout decoders for my new layout but I didn't use them on the current/temporary layout. The turntable is there for the kids, and I figured the loco decoder would do for that purpose for the time being.
I haven't dug into the details of the differences between the 2 types of decoders, but I know that my turnout decoders probably won't control the turntable properly. But they are based on the do-it-yourself dcc stuff on the MERG website. I am less familiar with the offerings from digitrax.
I will let you know if I find anything,
keith
 
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