Switches to turn on/off power

Ron skriver:

On "my" layout there is approx 216 individualley isolated "spurs", only isolated on one of the tracks.

It works fine

Nope, but make it at habit to cut the right track :-)

Klaus

Ron wrote in news:8c182f34-3248-4fb5-91dc- snipped-for-privacy@z27g2000prd.googlegroups.com:

To keep trains from running, only one rail need lose power. Naturally it must be isolated from the others.

For troubleshooting purposes, it's probably a good idea to cut power to both rails.

Be consistent, and take notes on what you've done. It's no fun playing "trace the wire."

Puckdropper

I've read the other answers, and add these comments:

a) use a consistent colour code for _all_ wiring. Don't substitute a different colour "just this once". For one thing, it's never "just this once,", and for another, you'll have a right mess. How do I know? Don't ask.

b) For sectional control purposes, always cut the same rail. One is hot, the other is return (ground). Since you are using two-wire power feeds, it doesn't matter which rail you choose.

c) You can save a lot of wire, and some grief when it comes to locating faults, if you use "common return". There are wiring books for model railroads that show you how.

Er, that's it.

Have fun!

wolf k.

Thanks to all for the comments. On the way! Ron

Comments from a slightly different viewpoint!!

Push ON/ push OFF may sound nice, BUT there is an advantage to toggles.

--- A quick glance, will show the state of the switch!

Comments Re: color coding wiring --- good and helpful. Re: 'Common Rail wiring' the wire saved is minuscule in the overall scheme of things, the headaches sometimes caused by 'Common Rail' shortcuts can be real 'bears' to find at times. I, myself, refuse to 'common rail' because of that possible problem. [Yeah I know, wiring done 'correctly' never has 'unknown glitches'.. Have you met my friend "Murphy"?]

Chuck D.

Charles Davis wrote: [...] [Yeah I know, wiring

The guy has his own coffee mug here!

Cheers

wolf k.

If you want to be thorough, you can easily find DPST switches of various types at mouser.com.

If all you want to do is cut track power, one rail is all you need. And which side doesn't matter because if you're on DC, which one is negative will vary with train direction. On DCC it matters even less.

The only reason I could think of to cut off both rails is some finicky situation near a reversing loop. *

It's also much nicer for modifications or additions later. With two rails cut you don't have to worry about shorts if you make a reversing loop (at least other than when an engine is bridging the sections, and that's easily handled a number of ways).

Personally, I run two long fat wires under the layout paralleling the track, and run feeders down as needed. A local cutoff switch is just as easy to do this way as it would be with common rail. *

For me, the 'as needed' is 'a drop for each and every piece of rail' --- I.E. 'joiners' are used only for 'physical alignment'. [No more search for that elusive 'bad joiner' electrical connection.]

Chuck D.

If you're doing DC and may at some point want to have more than one operator at a time, plan for "cab control" when you're doing the wiring. If you don't anticipate more than two operators at any one time. I suggest using dpdt center off switches. Even if you don't have the second power source now, you're all set when you decide to do it. The center off is useful for both control and trouble shooting. The comment about being able to SEE the power status is very helpful. The same is true of "seeing" the position of slow motion stall motor turnouts at the control panel as compared with push button snap switches. I finally electrically "locked" my few remaining mainline snap throws after too many accidents caused by unintentional throws when just brushing the push button. HTH

Some people must be unlucky. I have never had an elusive bad joiner in

I have become a true believer in a drop for each rail. It makes a big difference. More work, but I believe well worth the time.

Chris

Our club has several electrically bad joiners every year - DO NOT trust them. Murphy ensures that the bad joiner is inaccessable, too!

We have adopted a standard of TWO feeders per rail segment - one at each end. You'd be surprised how ofter "someone" cuts a gap in the middle of a segment!

Mark

I don't disagree - the joiners are more useful as expansion joints than as a way to bridge two sections of flex track. But it can be overkill in some places - I tend to really stretch out the raised sections because it's such a pain to run feeds down.

Some people swear by soldering at the joiners, but this seems like a Bad Idea to me. Better to just solder to the middle of the track section. *

Before DCC, this was exactly the switches that everyone used - center off rockers. You could easily see by eye which cab was connected to which block, and the switch could easily be adapted to a polarity switcher if you needed it.

They're pretty easy to find in auto supply stores, or for a lot cheaper at your online electronics supply site of choice. *

pv+ snipped-for-privacy@pobox.com (PV) wrote in news:q7mdnaE0n_7o6eLUnZ2dnUVZ snipped-for-privacy@supernews.com:

I tried soldering a feeder at the joiner once, with the feeder between the the two rails to help bridge the gap. It took so long for the joint to heat, any ties around there would have melted.

If you solder the joiner, it's best to drop a feeder a few inches away and minimize the amount of tie-melting heat applied at one time.

Puckdropper

Or you could use the old brass- builder's trick. First solder the joiner to the rail with a fairly high temp melting solder, then follow with a lower temp solder for the feeder.

fl@liner

Aah! The joys of resistance soldering tweezers. Heat just the wire and adjacent rail, minimal worry about tie melting.

Howard Garner

I solder the feed onto the joiner (fairly easy at the workbench). Easy to install. Haven't had any problems with connectivity.

As long as it works on your railroad, any approach is great!