Wiring question


Hathaway Browne

Hathaway Browne

Intrepid Adventurer
I was wondering if anyone would be able to point me in the direction with my layout wiring.

Story so far:
  • I have 2 loops of track which are separate from each other except for a cross over switch at the station.
  • The outer line has wire soldered to it leading to a Bachmann DCC controller.
  • The power only goes to one line (depending on which direction the switches are in). I understand that is because they are making the circuit up to (for example) the inner line.

How do I get it so that power goes to both lines at the same time?
 
See if I understand. You are using DCC and the power goes thru some switches before going to the layout. Why? As long as all of your track connections are solid, ie. soldered, and there are no insulated connections, because you do not need any, the DCC power pack only needs one connection to the layout.
 
The wires are situated at the back of the layout away from the switches (easier to hide the wire in an existing hole).

I've just roughed up this diagram. Don't know if that helps the situation any?

2904720336_166ccea167_o.jpg


I've just tried the train again. I put it on the inner line, not even a whimper. I then picked it up and put it on the outer line, and away we go. I then flicked the switches and the train moved from the outer to the inner. I then flicked them back to the original position and the train just sat still.
 
Oh, you are referring to what you are calling the cross over TRACK switches. Ok. That means that the power is not being transfered through common rails of the switches. That could be due to the internal construction of the switches. A quick remedy would be to connect the inner loop in parallel to the outer. You will need to do the same with each of your turn outs as well. The switches might need some power leads as well. Do you have a book on layout wiring? I have seen several in my hobby shop, some that are specific to DCC.
 
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Thanks. So I need to have a second wire for the inner line going to the grey cable that leads to the DCC?

Yes, I do have a book somewhere, but its circa 1970's....
 
Unless you know electricity forwards & backwards with your eyes closed, get yourself an up to date DCC wiring book.
 
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I can't tell from the drawing. Is the a one way or two way crossover? In other words, can trains from one loop only enter the second loop from one direction or can a train going either way cross over into the inner loop?

I'm sure you have power routing switches so the track power will only go the way the switch is thrown. You can solder jumper wires from the track beyond the frog to the stock rail before the frog to route power through the switch regardless of how the switch is lined.

If the crossover is one way, the only way a train can get from the inner loop back to the outer look is to back through the crossing, not a good idea. You should think about installing another crossover with the points in the opposite direction so trains can go from one loop to another without backing.
 
UP2CSX said:
I can't tell from the drawing. Is the a one way or two way crossover? In other words, can trains from one loop only enter the second loop from one direction or can a train going either way cross over into the inner loop?

I'm sure you have power routing switches so the track power will only go the way the switch is thrown. You can solder jumper wires from the track beyond the frog to the stock rail before the frog to route power through the switch regardless of how the switch is lined.

If the crossover is one way, the only way a train can get from the inner loop back to the outer look is to back through the crossing, not a good idea. You should think about installing another crossover with the points in the opposite direction so trains can go from one loop to another without backing.
Click to expand...
Well I've managed to upload a pic of the station crossing:

2906498437_4ec4974996.jpg


The wired portion of the track is just on a normal straight stretch the opposite end of the layout.

hamltnblue said:
Basically all you have to do is make sure the same wire is attached to the inner rails and outer rails
Click to expand...

So basically, I just need to duplicate what I've done so far? (ie another wire soldered to each rail of the inner track and then have them both join up to a single wire and then to the DCC?)
 
That should work but I think you're better off trying to solve the power routing problem at the switches. I'm not a good enough electrician to tell you if you are going to cause any damage by having power routing switches between two independently wired loops but I'd wait until one of the guys here who really knows electricity gives you the thumbs up. Nothing worse than smoking an expensive DCC controller.
 
Actually they wouldn't be independently wired but just paralleled with each other. It's not a bad idea to do this even if you don't have a problem with the switches. Just outside to outside rail and inside to inside rail. If there is a problem with the switch you could still have a stall issue while turning through it but you might get lucky.
 
So, let me see if I can get this right in my mind. Something like this?

2909252143_04c19687e7_o.jpg


Or would it be easier to do the above, and remove the crossover?
 
Again, it looks like that should work but I still think you'll have stalling problems at that crossover. If you just replaced those switches with one with powered frogs, like a standard Atlas switch, that should solve the problems.
 
By powered, I mean the track power goes through the frog and the frog is not insulated. Peco does make both types. The Electrofrog is what you want, since the track power is passed through the frog regardless of the position of the points. You should not have to add any additional wiring to your layout for the inner loop if you get this kind of switch.
 
^Now I like the sound of that! :) Think a trip to the L (non North Am) HS is in order then! :)

And I just noticed as I was on my way "into" this thread, there's a Wiring subforum... whoops - sorry I posted in the wrong place.
 
The wiring shown earlier is correct. Won't hurt to try it and even if the switch still has a problem both inner and outer loop will still work. Chances are your switch will work fine also. Besides it only costs a few cents for a couple of pieces of wire.
Good Luck
 
^Thanks for that. Might be worth trying it before shelling out on a new pair of switches. Plus, if it doesn't I still have plenty of spare track left over - so all is not lost! :)
 
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