Control two separate track layouts using a single EZ command control station

[lenny644]

Is it possible to control two separate track layouts using a single EZ command control station? Do I just use a terminal wire to parallel connect the EZ command track power from one layout to the other (both layout tracks powered simultaneously) and then the programmed EZ command control station will control the specific train on each layout?  Thanks for your help. Lenny

[jward]

yes. you can do it that way.

bear in mind that any dcc system such as ez command will also allow you to run both trains on the same track as well.

[Jim Banner]

How many railroads (or track layouts) a DCC command system can control at once depends on how many locomotives it can power at once and on how many locomotive addresses it can remember at once.  The most layouts I have run into is four.  The owner has two separate loops of G-gauge track at ceiling level in his basement, each with a train running on it.  He also has a G-gauge railway encircling his back yard.  His fourth layout is a basement sized H0 layout.

When he has a train show, he typically has two overhead large scale trains running themselves, a helper running two or three large scale trains in the back yard, and a couple of helpers running three or four H0 trains in the basement.  In his case, his system has the power - an 8 amp command station for the H0 plus an 8 amp booster for the 5 large scale trains - and it has the memory - up to 120 trains simultaneously, and each train with its own throttle if he can borrow enough throttles.  Short of operator error, it all runs faultlessly.

Jim

[lenny644]

Thanks a lot for your information.  It helped greatly.  Lenny

[adari]

I have a question. With the Digitrax Super Chief can you run a HO layout but at the same time run a N scale layout with the same one?
Adam

[Jim Banner]

I have a question. With the Digitrax Super Chief can you run a HO layout but at the same time run a N scale layout with the same one?
Adam

Yes, you can.  However, if you already have a Super Chief, you are probably aware that Digitrax recommends running H0-scale with 15 volts on the rails but N-scale with only 12 volts.  This is to prevent the N-scale locomotives and their decoders from overheating.  Short of using an extra booster for one or the other layout, there are three possible solutions:
(1) Run both layouts at the N-scale track voltage setting.  This will prevent overheating but the H0 locomotives will not run quite as fast and their lights will not be quite as bright.
(2) Run both layouts at the H0-scale track voltage setting.  This may cause N-scale locomotives and lighted passenger cars to over heat so check carefully and often, at least initially, if you try this option.
(3) Run both layouts at the H0-scale setting but include 4 pairs of reverse connected diodes in series with the N-scale feed.  This would look something like this:



The diodes must be rated for at least as much current as your Super Chief can put out, either 5 amps or 8 amps depending on version.  If you use some kind of current control ("DCC circuit breaker") such as a PM42 then you can use diodes rated for whatever current you set the current control to.

Jim

[jward]

jim
would this also apply to HO locomotives where, for space reasons, an n scale or z scale decoder had to be used?

[Jim Banner]

jim
would this also apply to HO locomotives where, for space reasons, an n scale or z scale decoder had to be used?

I have used quite a few Digitrax DZ123 and DZ125 decoders in H0 locomotives and have never had a problem running them on H0 voltage settings.  Normally, you can count on more cooling for the decoder in an H0 locomotive, even if there is little room, because there is usually a good sized chunk on metal that will act as a heat sink.  In N-scale and Z-scale locomotives, the motors take up proportionally more room and their heat reduces the cooling available to the decoders.  Having said all that, it would still be a neat trick to try if a decoder was close to its limits and occasionally cutting out due to over heating.  The diodes would have to be inside the locomotive so that all the rest of the locomotives on the layout were not affected.

I like your idea for another reason too.  A while back I was going to use a DZ125 as a secondary decoder inside a G-scale locomotive until I realized the track voltage exceeded the rated voltage of the decoder.  Using your idea, it should be possible to install a bunch of diode pairs inside the locomotive, in series with the input to the DZ125 to limit its input voltage, while leaving the G-scale motor decoder connected directly to the tracks and therefore getting its full voltage.  To knock off 5 volts would require 7 pairs of diodes (at .7 volts per pair) but because they would be handling only the current controlled by the small decoder, they could be physically small diodes.  Thanks for the suggestion.

Jim