3 rail block wiring?


weekendrailroader

weekendrailroader

Guy with the Green Hat
Hi all.

I'm trying to get a small 3 rail O-gauge loop set up. It's going to be a loop with one passing siding. I want the layout to be divided into three blocks: 1 for each of the passing sidings, and one for the single track portion of the loop. How do I wire this up? I imagine it's almost identical to a DC HO setup, but I don't know what to use to turn each block on and off. Does someone sell an O gauge block selector like what Atlas sells for HO?

Thanks. :)
 
You need to gap the center rail where the blocks will start / end and then run power thru a switch to it.
They sell isolating pins that replace the metal ones.
 
Do you know what kind of switch to use? Is there an O-gauge specific one? Or is it make a trip to Radio Shack or Home Depot and hope for the best?

EDIT: Perhaps this thing would work too. It's the Atlas selector, but it's designed for larger trains, such as O gauge. Plus, it can run on DC or AC. http://www.google.com/products/catalog?q=atlas+heavy+duty+selector&hl=en&prmd=imvns&resnum=2&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.,cf.osb&biw=1024&bih=485&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=15483991147985606204&sa=X&ei=bBIFT-r6Gqb-iQLe-dGADQ&ved=0CFUQ8wIwAA
 
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I'm thinking any old spst switch will do the job, it only has to kill power on the one wire.

Any O scalers want to jump in?
 
You isolate the center rail of each section A easy way to connect to the track is have a piece of metal and slide it into the rail from the bottom bend it and tape it where it passes the outer rail and there have a hole drilled, to solder the wire or use a small nut and bolt. The wire goes to a toggle or the non u terminal unless you have a 1033 transformer.

If you need basic info this manual is online It is printable.:)

The Atlas stuff will work but keep the information on the back on how to wire it. It is not easily found unless you buy a book.
 
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Well, Lionel had O-27 power routing switches in the post-war era. They probably still sell them. My brothers and I use a pair of 1022s on our carpet layouts so we can have three locomotives on the track at once and only run one at a time (but we have to run two when trying to switch one out of the siding.

But yes, you need to get a set of plastic pins and stick them in the center rails. It's just like HO or N, but you have a common rail on either side of the blocked one.

As for blocking power, I know there are commercially available switches out there, But I personally would buy a couple bags of toggles from RadioShack and mount and wire them myself.
 
I ended up buying the Atlas O selector, and it works great. You wire it up almost exactly the same way you would for HO or N. The only difference is that the wires from the selector go to the center rail, while the outer rails act as the common rails. I ended up using hot glue to fill the gaps in the center rail, thus dividing the track into different blocks. I still have to sand the glue down a bit, but it works well.

Thanks for the help, all. :)
 
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