Hello all,

My Friend in Virginia was in contact recently and asked for a bit more help because "it did not work" although I presume he tested it as he went along.

I have created a PDF and tweaked my correspondence with him in the email and thought it may prove useful for a few more of you… so here it is. OK it applies to his layout but I am sure there are elements that could help others here… and if there is a problem or something that does not quite make sense, please let me know by PM and I can change and update it

Cheers

Trevor

Hi All

My friend in Virginia sent me a link about using a meter at  Using an Inexpensive Meter to Troubleshoot & Test Trains which  he used in conjunction with the previous download I put in the previous post. It may be of use to you also.

Trevor

Hi Trevor,

I've been communicating with Lee, and this morning I had a good look at the diagram. Having the common return wired in parallel to the 2 cabs may not be a good idea as changing direction in any given block depends on changing the output polarity at the cab. It's possible to have a block with the rails of the same polarity if one cab is forward, the other backward. Using an Atlas controller (part #220) with the wires reversed on cab B should solve this problem.

Nigel

Hello Nigel,
Thanks for the nearby support you can offer Lee, which strangely enough I cannot!

To get the wiring. I simply followed the Atlas wiring suggestion as I am not that familiar with their products but common rail as I have done it is not a problem. I have three driving cabs and am planning for a fourth all using common rail - if you could get a 20 position rotary switch for each block, you could use 20 cabs ( actually 19 and an off switch). 

The Atlas selector switches as I see them are simply a Single Pole Single Throw (SPST) switch unless they are Centre off which would mean that they would be Single Pole Double Throw (SPDT) switches so I am struggling to see why Lee would need the cab selector unless he had a Turntable, a reverse loop or a Triangle/Wye for cab direction but I am happy to learn.   

Is it possible that he does not have two separate transformer/power packs? Common rail does rely on two transformers to be viable and will not work with just one transformer,

Thanks for being there for him!

Cheers
 
Trevor

PS  One of the links I used to double check was from this page  Atlas controller and selector - Model Railroader Magazine - Model Railroading, Model Trains, Reviews, Track Plans, and Forums

Hi Trevor,

One of the reasons I stopped doing this early on in my modeling career (after my first layout) and switched to DCC. I've yet to talk with Lee (we've been trying for a week now), but from his emails I don't think he's using your diagram and I have no idea what he actually done. Personally I would have gone for DPDT switches and separate wiring for each block and not common rail with SPDT switches. Bit more wiring but bullet-proof. Actually, scratch that, with 4 yards and 3 spurs I would have gone straight for DCC and stopped worrying about live frogs versus power-routing turnouts, which I suspect is the root of the problem.

Nigel