Switches with the EZ Commander controller....HELP!

[Balrog21]

Hi All,
New to forum and all, but my son is getting his first train set for Christmas this year, and hehe..so is dad along with him. I'm jumping back into the hobby as well. So with that said, he is getting from his Grandparets the Bachmann Digital Commander set, and me and his mom are getting him a few more engines and rolling stock and track.  So, my question is this:

Our layout will be 5'x16' with 3 main lines and lots of switches(10). How in all of Hades do I make the switches work with the EZ Commander or am I missing something here? I've looked on youtube and found really nothing...so am I going to have to do all of this switching around manually or are we are going to have to buy some other gadget to make all of them work. We also have 2 crossovers one left and one right.

any and all help is GREATLY appreciated!!!

Thanks in advance!
Bal

[Jerrys HO]

Bal

There are no a/c terminals on the EZ Command.
I use an extra power pack from a DC set I had. You can find them on e-bay cheap.

http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/products.php?act=viewProd&productId=209

also if you have an old power pack off an old cell phone,rc car,etc. they will work also just cut the end off and wire it to your switches. With that many switches you may want to use a barrier strip for all those wires.

If you are using the dc power pack use the A/C terminals at the top.

Jerry

[Balrog21]

ok, thanks! time to show my ignorance now..what is a barrier strip?

[Balrog21]

nvm...just googled it, and i thought that was what it was. =) thanks again!

[Jerrys HO]

This is the strip

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103229

This is the jumper needed

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103227

I run one lead from the power pack to one and the other lead to the other to power my switches

Jerry

[Balrog21]

Now I'm faced with an interesting dilemma . Should I isolate one of the three mains and run it with the new power pack or should I just tie it in all together? Both have advantages. With it isolated I can  run two dc engines. With it tied in together I can only run one, also with it isolated there will be only one track" with it tied together I can switch between all three lines the way I have it set up. Ah, choices choices....also, Jerry will that 8 pin jumper be enough or do need 2? I'm guessing by your avatar your from the south? I'm in Mississippi myself. Anyway thanks again for all the help and future help!

[Jerrys HO]

With it isolated I can  run two dc engines

Your original post was uusing the Digital Commander set with the EZ Command controller which is DCC. If that is what you are going to use then you do not have to isolate any of the tracks unless you have a reversing loop which would require a reverse loop module.
If you are running DC engines also (which I would not recommend for various reasons)
you could not run two at one time as the EZ Command only allows one DC engine to be used using the #10 key. You could run two but they would not be independently controled as the DCC engines can.

run it with the new power pack

The power pack I posted was to run the switches only to power the turnouts.
Your EZ Command that comes with the Digital Commander set will run everything just fine.

I did a lot of reading on DCC (and still learning more day to day) so I will start with a couple of good links to help you out.

http://www.awrr.com/dccintro1.html

http://www.members.optusnet.com.au/nswmn2/DCC.htm

http://www.dccwiki.com/Introduction_to_DCC

What part of ms.? NOLA here.

Jerry

[jward]

since you mentioned that you can cross over between all 3 lines i would strongly advise that you power your trains by dcc only. use the dc power pack to power your switches only,'


if dc and dcc ever get crossed, such as through a locomotive trying to cross from a dc track to a dcc one, you will probably destroy either your dcc or dc throttles. don't risk it, keep them seperated.

[Balrog21]

Thanks for the replies and links and the advice! As soon as I get the very newborn to sleep I'm going to do a very rough drawing of the layout and post it up so you can get a better understanding of what I'm talking about. Yeah, I know I can't run two dc engines independently off the ez command, but if I totally isolate the the third line no dcc will even be on it. Arghh I'm talking in circles let me try to get the newborn to sleep and the pic will explain it better.
Jerry, I'm in McComb if you know where that is. We have a pretty neat train museum here in honor of the ICG repair yard that used to thrive here and was the only reason our town was founded. Are there any dedicated train shops down in Nola? Or did the hurricane wipe em and spell doom to them? Drawing coming in a little while.

[Balrog21]

well, hope this works...better late than never right? remember it's a very rough drawing! not really to scale just showing the basic layout..lots of buidlings and town stuff in the blank areas..and work building for the yards and roundhouse. now hopefully the pic will load.....

[Balrog21]

link so you can see it bigger!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v197/balrog21/TRAINLAYOUT5X16.jpg

[Balrog21]

can you tell I'm tired...the layout size is 5'x16' sorry for the repeated posts...

[Doneldon]

Balrog-

You show a crossover between Main 1 and Main 3 at the bottom of your diagram near the right end. This risks a disastrous electrical
accident if you are running one with DC and one with DCC. Also, it looks like Mains 1 and 2 cross one another twice near the middle of
your layout. This would also be calamitous if they do not have the same control system.

                                                                                                                                           -- D

[Balrog21]

yeah, Doneldon, this is with it all connected together, which after some serious thought I'm going to keep it that way. If i wanted to separate it I would take the x-over out at the bottom right, but after thinking about it it wouldn't be as much fun - too many swithching and fun hours would be wasted if I isolated Main 3. So, all will be connected and the DC power pack will only be used to run the switches. Main 3 will be elavated via tier or rock formation and Main 2 will run through it at the bottom.
a couple of other things I'm aware of as well that I've already taken into consideration.
I will have at least 2 feet of clearance all the way around the layout. Yeah, 5 feet is wide, but I'm pretty tall with very long arms so possible derails and reaching them really won't be a problem! =) I wish I had the luxury of having the whole room for my layout but this is what I'm allowed and my son will be involved so a shelf type layout isn't really in the cards atm (ah, but later!).

Now the fun stuff -
I'm from the deep south and we really don't have many rolling hills or mountains, but I do love mountains, so I'm adding a few for personal taste. My train yard will have some iconic buidlings that our own town's trainyard has. I can't model my home towns yard, it's huge. I'm from McComb,MS it was the only car repair shop between New Orleans and Memphis, TN and was a hopping place during it's day. But I can at least show a few golden nuggets in my yard to show the love. As a treat I'm providing two pics below. One is the offical partial layout of my town's yard, and the second is taken way back in 1976 when the orange and white's (ICG's)were constantly at work. Maybe one day I will add a line for the Panama Limited that ran through our town and had a stop here, but for now, the freighties win the day! Hope you enjoy the pics!

I do want to say thanks for all the advice and caution. Your help is GREATLY appreciated!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v197/balrog21/McCombtrainyard.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v197/balrog21/ICGdoingwork.jpg

[Balrog21]

here is a little bit better pic of the diagram so all can be read.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v197/balrog21/TRAINLAYOUT5X16BETTER-1.jpg