Recent content by itsallaboutme

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  1. I

    Lost at Hello

    Hi there. I understand how a train goes backward, I didn't understand how two trains sharing a rail can be going in opposite directions. But I think a lightbulb went off in my brain. Reversing a section isn't really swapping polarity of the two rails, it's more like opening a dam farther...
  2. I

    Lost at Hello

    Crandell, you crack me up. It's easier to have a train wreck with DCC? I'm sold.
  3. I

    Lost at Hello

    Uh-oh. Now I am reading that common rail is not recommended for DCC(?) I'm waffling now because I may want to upgrade to DCC someday. If I wire in blocks, what do you recommend for that inch on the turnout piece that is live on one rail and dead on the other? Should I cut the track on the live...
  4. I

    Lost at Hello

    Thanks, that's helpful. So it is relational. I don't have to connect to a water pipe, that's a relief. But I guess I have to hook these power supplies in series somehow. I think this book might help me with that, or maybe something on the internet. I was struggling with that positive and...
  5. I

    Lost at Hello

    Hi. Okay, starting over. I have a 4'x6' board (that in a former life was an architectural diorama) I have three circles of N scale EZ track and I connected the circles with turnouts 1>2>3>1. I still have track and space to someday make a little yard. I have multiple controller/power supplies...
  6. I

    Lost at Hello

    Do I understand you correctly -- you think DCC is easier to understand than DC? I was sort of under the impression it was graduate level.
  7. I

    Lost at Hello

    Thank you. So I connect one controller positive wire to one block positive rail on each block, each block must have its own controller. Now, can I connect all the controller negatives to the common rail? And it will still be okay if I throw one of the controllers into reverse?
  8. I

    Lost at Hello

    Thanks, but that explains the power as long as none of the trains want to back up. In order to make a locomotive go backwards don't I have to reverse polarity? How can you reverse polarity if one rail is always connected to the negative?
  9. I

    Lost at Hello

    I want a simple DC layout, and I bought a model railroad basic wiring book and I read all about the fundamentals of DC. Chapter 2, already lost. This book says tie the entire common (negative) track together, but isolate the positive sections so you can control the trains independently in...
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