Kato 20-220/221 Number 4 Turnouts / DCC Track / Proposed Design Help


melcapone

New Member
Hello, I'm very new to railway modelling and would like some advice please regarding my proposed DCC layout.
I have designed a simple Kato N Gauge layout incorporating a number of Kato 20-220/221 number 4 Turnouts, that have Power Routing/Non-Power Routing switches underneath.
In my layout, I have set all Turnouts to Non-Power Routing, so the main and turnout rails are always live.
I have isolated each of the rails leaving the Turnouts and have run power through bus connectors between each Turnout, supplying power to each section of track between the isolated Turnout points. This gives me at least independently powered sections.
I have traced the positive and negative rails throughout my design and nowhere do they cross over causing a short circuit.
I intend to purchase an NCE Power Cab Controller so I can control individual locos at the same time, on the same or different loops and my locos will have DCC built in for sound/ lights etc.
My question is this......If I am using Non-Powering Turnouts that are isolated on the tracks leaving the Turnouts and am providing individual power supply to the track between them, does my setup sound reliable and safe to proceed with, thus elimination any short circuits.
Please do not get to technical as I am trying to get my head around all the terminology and available accessories.
I have attached my proposed layout showing where I intend to isolate and power the track.
Hope this helps explain better.
Your help and guidance would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
Mel.
 

Attachments

  • Proposed N Gauge Kato Layout.pdf
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Hello melcapone, welcome to the forum.

With DCC and a smaller home layout set up such as yours, there's really no need to isolate any section(s) of track on your layout. Just drop some feeders at various intervals around the layout to a common bus to help prevent voltage drop and promote a good DCC signal. Basically, just power the whole thing up full time, and don't worry about it. You'll be just fine.

The only time you may wish to isolate various sections would be if you obtained a multiple circuit-breaker setup, such as a DCC Specialties PSX-2, -3, or -4 circuit breaker, in order to divide a larger layout into separate power districts. This is to prevent a short circuit in one district from interrupting power to other districts on the layout. Or in other words, for preventing one short circuit from shutting down a whole layout. Some modular train clubs and a lot of larger home layouts use these breakers. Of course, nothing says you can't use these on a smaller layout if you really want to.

Hope this helps. :)👍
 
Hi Smudge617,
Thank you for your reply and advice,
I just thought that by having multiple feeds via a bus, the current would be evenly distributed making a better balance ensuring that all parts of the circuit receive the same voltage/amps.
Do you foresee any risks on my design that might cause any short circuits?
Do you think the NCE Power CAB Controller is a good choice and would it provide enough power for my design ?
Thank you again.
Mel.
 
Hi Smudge617,
Thank you for your reply and advice,
I just thought that by having multiple feeds via a bus, the current would be evenly distributed making a better balance ensuring that all parts of the circuit receive the same voltage/amps.
Do you foresee any risks on my design that might cause any short circuits?
Do you think the NCE Power CAB Controller is a good choice and would it provide enough power for my design ?
Thank you again.
Mel.
Ummmm..............
melcapone, if a person "Likes" a post, their name shows up at the very bottom of that post next to a 'Thumbs up' (or other selectable) emoticon.
This is NOT the person who made the post. Look the post over a little more carefully, and see if you can determine who REALLY posted it.
Hint: For another example, look at your own original post and see if you can determine who really posted it.
:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
 
Hi Smudge617,
Thank you for your reply and advice,
I just thought that by having multiple feeds via a bus, the current would be evenly distributed making a better balance ensuring that all parts of the circuit receive the same voltage/amps.
Do you foresee any risks on my design that might cause any short circuits?
Do you think the NCE Power CAB Controller is a good choice and would it provide enough power for my design ?
Thank you again.
Mel.
I can't speak for Kato track or turn outs but I use Peco Code 80 Flex Track and Turnouts with an NCE Power CAB. My last layout was a total of 130 or so feet of track work. I generally ran two or three trains at a time. As I used Flex Track I had feeders attached to each 3' length of flex.

The main reason for having feeders is to ensure good electrical conductivity through out the layout. I use one set of feeders per track length as I never rely on rail joins for connectivity.

The Power Cab handled everything flawlessly. Unfortunately I can't open your Track Plan so I can't tell how much track you will have or if thee might be any possible issues. Assuming (at this point) that your layout is no larger than my previous ones and you will only be running 3 trains at a time, then you shouldn't have a problem in the world. That being said, I don't normally run sound. I also used non powered Peco Insulfrog turnouts with no issue either.
 
Well, you don't necessarily have to stay out of the conversation
Absolutely correct @Smudge617, you don't have to stay out of the conversation, nor should you. NO one persons response to a question is the definitive response, no-ones.

Often, especially when a question is asked by a New Member, answers are repeated by a number of people taking the time to respond, that is a fact of forums, it happens. When answers are repeated, or similar responses are given, it is more often than not seen as confirmation of what has already been stated NOT as attempting to obtain "one up man ship" or for any other reason or motive.

All posts not relevant to the Original Posters question have been removed. In future, any "personal" issues should be resolved in a "Conversation" NOT in the public forum or thread.
 
I've put melcapones track plan on Adobe cloud, you should be able to access his track plan via the link even if you don't have adobe on you computer.
if it doesnt work let me know, and I'll try another way.

 
Tony: What are you using to surf with? Firefox, Edge and Chrome all will read PDF's. Edge started doing that awhile back, Firefox followed then Chrome. I will have to check the Linux box out in the train cave as far as I know, Adobe ( or Linux equiv ) is not loaded on it. Windoz machines usually have that as part of the OS load. I don't know about Apple/Mac, the rest will give you some sort of pop-up wondering what to use for those PDF's if Adobe is not loaded and you click on one.

Later
 



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