Switches


nekom

Member
Is it considered OK to wire one side of the track direct and have a switch for the other? Seems to me it would work, but I'm worried there might be some reason not to do that.
 
Yup thats fine, Single Pole Single Throw. alot of guys use them for sidings and stub tracks.

Ken.
 
Not 100% sure what you are trying to do with wiring one side direct, Unless its a one-way track. And also I know nothing about DCC. But this is how I wire tracks in DC using DPDT( Double Pole,Double Throw)switches.

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Is it considered OK to wire one side of the track direct and have a switch for the other? Seems to me it would work, but I'm worried there might be some reason not to do that.

If you mean that you had a yard track that you wanted to be able to toggle on and off for power, for example to park and silence a locomotive or string of lighted passenger cars, yes, you can control power to that track with a simple single pole double throw. You drive the loco or train up that track with the toggle enabling power to get to that track, and then flip the toggle to isolate that track. Meanwhile, back at the last turnout and beyond to the rest of the layout, or back to the last spdt, you have steady power from either feeders or the spdt.

Same for a siding, as for a radial track in and around a roundhouse...etc. Note that you will likely want to leave gaps between the track(s) in question and the last turnout.
 
Track wiring

It appears that what you want to do, is a system called "Common rail". One side of the track is wired directly to your power source; the other wiring goes to a toggle switch that turns power to the other rail on or off. If you have more than one power pack to operate from, the "common rail" power is the same, but the switches for the various blocks select which power pack provides the power for that track segment.
 
Not 100% sure what you are trying to do with wiring one side direct, Unless its a one-way track. And also I know nothing about DCC. But this is how I wire tracks in DC using DPDT( Double Pole,Double Throw)switches.

Untitled-1.png


Using a center off switch though, right? Else you just reverse your train in DC.

In DC you only cut power to one rail isolated by insulated joint(s) as required to assure not back feed.

Joe
 
A single pole double throw (SPDT) switch has one wire into it and two wires out, one for each of the thrown positions.

A double pole double throw (DPTP) switch has two wires into it and four wires out, one for each thrown position of each wire. Both wires are always thrown together.
 
SPDT could be used to isolate a section of track for programming purposes. One way, everything works around the layout. Thrown the other side, only the desired segment of track gets the power...or signal in DCC.

DPDT is for reversing sections where you have a loop doubling back on itself, a turntable that does not have a built-in split ring reversing capability, or on turning wyes. Thrown one way, the powered axles can cross a gap into the loop with no problem. Once the entire train of powered axles is across that first gap, and before the first such axle crosses another gap at the far end and returns the way it came (or is reversed in direction), you throw the toggle to the other side of the switch, effectively reversing the polarity so that there is no conflict with the oncoming polarity.

Might sound confusing or complicated, but it is quite straight forward and doable.
 
my layout is all wired on DPDT switches, its the best way in my opinion, even to reverse polarity, and you also have a total current isolation once turned off. I also have a throttle controller on every isolated section, so I can be able to slow or speed up locos on sidings while they have a different speed on other sidings or the mainline.
 



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