Feeder Wire Addition


G

GNMT76

Active Member
One section of track on my DC layout, which serves as a siding, is gapped at each end (on the south side) and wired to a SPDT toggle switch so I can pause or park a train there while another passes by on the adjacent mainline.

If I add feeder wires from the main power supply bus wires to that section to improve current flow, will that at all interfere with the pausing/stopping function of that section of track? Or, am I good to go?

Thanks!
 
santafewillie said:
Only if you add the wires from the main buss to the SPDT switch. Otherwise you bypass the switch and cannot turn the power off.
Click to expand...

Willie,

The question is will adding feeders interfere with the on/off siding function. From what you wrote, I interpret it to mean that it will interfere. The second sentence, however, seems to be saying the opposite. Can you please clarify?
 
GNMT76 said:
One section of track on my DC layout, which serves as a siding, is gapped at each end (on the south side) and wired to a SPDT toggle switch so I can pause or park a train there while another passes by on the adjacent mainline.

If I add feeder wires from the main power supply bus wires to that section to improve current flow, will that at all interfere with the pausing/stopping function of that section of track? Or, am I good to go?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
IF you experiencing slowdown of locomotives running on that siding it could be to (1) having too small a feeder wire running from the SPDT toggle to the siding, (2) having a very long run of the feeder, (3) dirty track. The solution to the first two is either to replace the feeder wire with a larger gage wire, or run a second wire parallel to the existing feeder wire from the output of the toggle switch. If you run wire directly from the rest of the layout, as Santafewillie said, you will bypass the toggle switch and won't be able to turn off power to the siding.
 
If you run them from the main buss to the siding, you cannot turn the power off for parking. You need to hook any feeders from the main buss to the toggle switch first.
 
trailrider said:
IF you experiencing slowdown of locomotives running on that siding it could be to (1) having too small a feeder wire running from the SPDT toggle to the siding, (2) having a very long run of the feeder, (3) dirty track. The solution to the first two is either to replace the feeder wire with a larger gage wire, or run a second wire parallel to the existing feeder wire from the output of the toggle switch. If you run wire directly from the rest of the layout, as Santafewillie said, you will bypass the toggle switch and won't be able to turn off power to the siding.
Click to expand...

Trailrider,

Good points all.

Yep, after three years of flawless operation, the locos have only just begun slowing down right at the juncture of the mainline and the siding, so it's got to be a rail joiner issue. It's a small layout (7' x 5'), so any run of wire is quite short. I've also thoroughly cleaned the section in question, but to no avail. So I think that soldering that joint will solve the problem.
 
A more thorough cleaning and joint soldering did the job. The former itself would have probably been sufficient. It's amazing how much grime can accumulate in so short a time and in such a clean room!
 
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