Selector
Well-Known Member
...or, as the instructions suggest, stagger the gaps. In fact, I don't use insulating joiners. I keep my train room strictly controlled in humidity, so I never have to worry about closing gaps or widening ones. I just leave 1/16" gaps over which the wheels run just fine, thanks very much. However, I stagger them across from each other by about 1/4". That way, no two metal tires ever cross the gaps simultaneously. If you don't wish to be constrained to train lengths only as long as those that will fit nicely between the two sets of gaps, then double up on the gaps. I make one staggered pair across from each other, and then at the distance of the length of the longest passenger car truck, I make a second pair of staggered gaps. All per the instructions. This way, a pax car that has lighting can't short across the gaps because any one truck is fully contained between the four gaps at each end of the reversed section. I can run long coal drags, or 12 heavyweights behind my BLI Niagara, even though my reversing section is only 10 passenger cars long.
The thing to remember is that the decoder doesn't care which rail has a positive curve or a negative one in the square wave AC current that is DCC. The PSX switches in milliseconds, so the decoder doesn't even notice. It can switch several times inside of a minute, and not give the slightest hint of it. Rearward, the long consist, with its tail end still outside the far side of your PSX controlled rail segment, trundles right along across the far gaps, into the reversed length, and out the near side behind the loco as the loco moves onto the main and along it again. This facility, trains much longer than your reversed track length, is VERY handy. A bit more work (two more pairs of staggered gaps), but I really enjoy not having to worry about train lengths across it.
The thing to remember is that the decoder doesn't care which rail has a positive curve or a negative one in the square wave AC current that is DCC. The PSX switches in milliseconds, so the decoder doesn't even notice. It can switch several times inside of a minute, and not give the slightest hint of it. Rearward, the long consist, with its tail end still outside the far side of your PSX controlled rail segment, trundles right along across the far gaps, into the reversed length, and out the near side behind the loco as the loco moves onto the main and along it again. This facility, trains much longer than your reversed track length, is VERY handy. A bit more work (two more pairs of staggered gaps), but I really enjoy not having to worry about train lengths across it.