Putting blocks on EZ track

[wilson44512]

I'm using EZtrack Black. And im using a MRC tech 6 sound controler.  I have one bachmann loco with sound and one with out. i would like to run them both on the same track. But not at the Same time. Is rthere way to put some kind of blocks with switches so i can do that? if so can some one tell me how?

The circles show where i want to put the blocks.



And can some one tell me what rail is the positive rail>

[Joe Satnik]

Dear Wilson,

Cut a gap in the rail only (not the ties or roadbed), fill the gap with a chunk of plastic (credit card thickness), then epoxy the gap. 

Trim the epoxy/plastic on the inside and top of the rail.

Solder a SPST switch, one terminal wired to the outside of the rail on one side of the gap,

the other terminal wired to the outside of the rail on the other side of the gap. 

Hope this helps.

Let us know how it turns out.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik.

[jward]

alternately, you could remove one of the rail joiners where you want to put a gap, and replace it with a plastic insulating joiner.  with the layout shown, you only need to insulate one rail. just make sure it is the same rail at every gap. you could also use atlas selectors in place of the toggle switches. they are much easier to wire and don't require big holes in your control panel.

which rail is positive depends on which direction you are running. the standard is that the right hand rail is positive for the direction you are travelling. when you reverse direction on dc, you do so by reversing polarity of the rails.

[wilson44512]

Is there a certain kind of switch  i need size Volt or Amp?

Is this how it should look like?

[Jerrys HO]

wilson,

This should help a lot. Save it to your favorites for future reference.

http://www.nmra.org/beginner/extended.html

Off to the right is the index with lots of information.

Jerry

[Joe Satnik]

Dear wilson44512,

Hey, nice drawing.  What program did you use?

If HO, any switch 12 volts or more, and 1 amp or more. 

I concur with jward, Atlas selectors will work well if the gaps are in the same polarity rail.

Careful not to melt your roadbed or ties if you solder to the rails.

Hope this helps.

Sincerely,

Joe Satnik

[jward]

I have redrawn the layout to show mow you would gap and wire it for maximum flexibility:



the insulating joiners are marked in red. notice they are all on the rail closest to the center of the layout.

the rail not gapped is wired directly to your controller. this is shown inn orange.

the two atlas selectors are also wired directly to the controllers. the connection woold be from the terminals marked "cab a" to the controller as shown. notice that the mainline tracks and the yard tracks are on seperate  selectors.

the gapped rails are connected to the screws on the tops of the selectors, one wire per screw terminal. these are shown in green.

a second dc controller may be added to the layout, by connecting it to the "cab b" terminals on the selectors, and the ungapped rail. wire these the same as the first controller.

[Doneldon]

Jeff-

Wouldn't you want the short yard access track to be part of the yard rather than the main? The way it shows now, a loco working the yard occupies the southwest arc of the main, or did you draw it that way to give the yard job a longer drill track, even if it is on the main?
                                                                                                                                      -- D

[jward]

don,

in this case making the yard lead a swepwerate block would serve no purpose.     the block would be too short to do anything without coming out onto the main anyway.  figure the most headroom you'd have without coming out onto the main as 15" which is one locomotive and 1 car. that's only for the two innermost tracks. the headroom for the first yard track is 6 inches, less than most locomotives.

[Doneldon]

the block would be too short to do anything without coming out onto the main anyway.

Jeff-

That's why I asked if that's why you drew it the way you did.

One of the most common track plan errors I see is not having a drill track or yard lead long enough to actually use. Keeping yard activities off of the main is really important if one wants to have operations whichook a little bit prototypical. I know that it's common for trains to use mains for switching sidings and spurs but the real railroads don't sort trains on their through tracks.
                                                                                                                   -- D

[jward]

i wasn't trying to get fancy here, just showing how the plan the original poster submitted could be wired. if i built this layout, i'd have added a yard lead track, and a second passing track as well. but then, i never build single level layouts either. for this example, i tried to leave everything as close to the original as possible.

[NarrowMinded]

I like what Jward has taken the time to do, it's a great help to the OP.

I would add the extra switches mentioned By Doneldon just off the main for the added flexability of being able to place a longer train in the yard when the other spurs are full while a train on the main passes.

NM-Jeff

[Desertdweller]

To estimate the cost of this installation as drawn by jward:

2 Atlas Selectors @ $8.00 ea. =           $16.00.

1 pack insulated rail joiners (if used)        4.00.

2 spools Radio Shack wire $4.00 ea. =     8.00.

2 Bachmann powerpacks with controllers
@ $66.00ea. (You may already have one).
                                                              132.00

                                                             $160.00 total

Now, this is assuming you have to buy the powerpacks.  If you are starting your model railroad from scratch, I suggest you start with a couple of Bachmann train sets.  These include the power packs/controllers, some track, and a DC locomotive and cars.  It is very cost-effective to do it this way, if you want a DC railroad.

Also, as has been explained, there are good no-cost alternatives to insulated rail joiners.  You will, of course, get some hook-up wire with your train sets and you may have some other wire already.  If you buy the wire new, you can get two different colors to help keep the polarity straight.

So, if you don't have to buy the powerpacks/controllers seperately, make your own insulated joints, and use scrap wire you may already have, you are looking at an outlay of $16.00 for a system that will operate any DC locomotives without further modification or programming.

You will also have a system that puts no power on the rails until you open the throttle, and one you can troubleshoot by eyesight.

Les

[Doneldon]

You will also have a system that puts no power on the rails until you open the throttle, and one you can troubleshoot by eyesight.

Dd-

This, of course, is a two-edged sword. It's nice that one can easily tell if there is current on a track by checking lights or deliberately causing a short (yes I know, don't do that, but everybody does at least once in a while). But it also means that sound systems reboot every time the power comes up, passenger car lights, caboose lights and loco lights go off until power is restored, etc. One of the things I like about DCC is that these features remain operative until I affirmatively turn them off.
                                                                                                                                                                                                        -- D

[jward]

so what's to stop you from wiring a layout this way, but using dcc. the advantsges are that you can shut off various tracks when you park trains there, to lessen the draw on your power supply. this is especially important if you are using a low amperage entry level system like ez command. another advantage is that short circuitas are easily isolated to one section of track, which can be turned off and the rest of the layout can run until it is fixed.

as a matter of fact, i wire my layouts similar to this for just those reasons.