Reverse Loop Issues

[strench707]

Hey Guys!

I am new here to the forum and after stumbling upon it on the Web I've found it looks like an awesome place to share ideas and pictures and to ask for help!

Well, the reason why I posted this thread is that I have been having a major Reverse Loop Issue on my layout and it has basically prohibited me from running trains. I am currently in the track laying and wiring stage of my layout and this is one major hang-up I just can't seem to get through.

I essentially have a double track mainline that dogbones and meets in the middle so its a parallel four track straight-away. At this point I have incorporated a universal interlocking connecting all four tracks. The problem though is that this causes a very complicated short circuit, resulting in the correct implementation (which I have not yet found) of multiple Auto-Reversing Units.

I currently use NCE's ProCab DCC Controller and am using all Bachman E-Z Track for my layout.

Below I have provided a diagram I drew of how I am currently configured. The center is exaggerated and the dog bones are actually each the size of medium sized rooms. But I more or less zoomed in on the interlocking since the dog bones don't have much to do with the issue. I treat the short interlocking as the "Main Line" and the dogbones as the "Reversing Sections."

The problem basically is that my current wiring just does not work. Trains short out when reaching ends of the interlocking and its a real mess. The transitions between segments should be seamless and painless.

In my diagram the ) ( indicates an insulated (plastic) joint, and the lines are rails and wires. Everything is labeled on the sheet.

Also, here is the sheet that came with the AR1 module:

http://www.digitrax.com/ftp/ar1.pdf


If anyone needs me to explain or redraw any part of this to better get an idea of what it looks like then feel free to ask! I truly appreciate any help I can get!


Thank you very much in advance for any assistance,

Davis Strench
Riva, MD

 

[kencunningham]

Are your turnouts power routing? The way you have your drawing, it makes it look like your powering the reversers from the rail, and not the dcc power bus wire? Without being there to look over the wiring, the safest advice for me to give you is to isolate the four straight sections from each other by putting isolators or cutting the rail where the turnouts meet. Then power each straight section of track seperately. That should fix your short.

 

[kencunningham]

Try setting all your switches to the thru route and see if the short goes away.

 

[strench707]

Thank you very much for the suggestions! I will first try the method of hooking all of the auto-reversers to the bus wire. I suspect that might have been the problem all along.

The switches do not affect the short circuiting from what i have observed, regardless of alignment the shorts occur.


Thanks again for all of your info! I'll report back after I make the revisions you suggested!

Davis

 

[Carreiro]

Wiring issue

Hi there,

I hope you've solved your issue by now, since it is several months from the dated of your post, but I'll offer what help I can. It looks as though you placed the wires in the wrong place. Simplify your drawing virtually by drawing the route your trains would take and compare that to the ar1 instruction drawing. Other issues could be the switches you have. There are times when a switch in a reverseing loop can cause issues. Let me know how it goes.

 

[trailrider]

While I am not familiar with auto-reversers, and only vaguely familiar with DCC, the one problem I believe I see is that you need insulated (plastic) rail joiners in BOTH rails between each turnout in a crossover. Depending on the type of crossings (X) you have, you may also need to isolate them and control the polarities of the tracks separately. I use a Tech 6, 6.0 for my DCC locomotives and a regular power pack for DC, so it may not be the same, but Atlas crossings work fine on my layout. The rule is: feed power from the point end of a turnout, and insulate between the frog end (both rails) and any power feed.