Isolating section of track


wilson44512

wilson44512

Newbie RRDER
I'm going to isolate 2 sections of track on my layout as seen in the first pic. And want to make sure i have the right stuff to do it. as in the 2nd pic.
the reason is I'm using a MRC TECH 6 SOUND CONTROLLER on my EZ track layout. And have one locomotive with sound and another with out. And since the MRC can run both. I want to park one and run the other? with out take one locomotive off. every time i wanna switch.

WDQG3.jpg


MD5YN.jpg



And will this toggle switch work. and can i solder the wire right to the switch?

haQRC.jpg
 
Yes, solder the wires directly to the switch terminals.
That schematic should work fine to 'un-power' a loco sitting on the siding. Just make sure that the loco is all the way past the gap. So, will a 9" plus track section be long enough?
Also suggest putting something along side the track to mark where the gap is. It can be something normally seen like a small enclosure.
 
That will work fine. You could have the switch right there with a building to cover it up, or just use.longer wires and have the switch mounted elsewhere.
 
The current wires could be covered with ballast, dirt and grass to hide them.

If you want to re-do the wiring: I would drill a hole down between the ties right next to the rail. This way there is very little wire to hide.
 
How close is the electric switch to the track connections? if it's less than 3 feet, use a smaller wire - 30 guage, and drill a very small hole on the inside of the rails and wire it from there; no need to wire them on the outside of the rails. Put a little ballast over the wires the same as normal ballasting and you'll be good to go.

I take it the building you want to use is to tell where the gap is? Just put a weed, bunch of low bushes, etc. to mark where the gap is if needed; even a pile of old ties could be used as a marker or a person doing some thing.
 
Thanks for the ideas guys. I'll try ballasting and see how it looks But radio shack already cost me $30 on the solder, flux, wire and switches. and im on a tight budget.:eek:
 
wilson44512 said:
Thanks for the ideas guys. I'll try ballasting and see how it looks But radio shack already cost me $30 on the solder, flux, wire and switches. and im on a tight budget.:eek:
Click to expand...

Do you have an old telephone or phone extension cord around? there is your 30G wire, just open the covering up and you'll find 4 (usually) colour coded wires - even 1 black and 1 red. Very inexpensive way to get cheap wire that will work, plus it's usually multi strand wire.

Jim
 
I use 'phone' wire for the track feeds. I measured the wire I have as #28 and only run enough to pass through the layout (roadbed and platform) then splice to a larger gauge wire.
Being that the small gauge wire is short the IR voltage loss is quite low.
Check out my build thread for pictures of wires to the track.
 
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