Sorry for the silly question but I have a few sidings on my intermodal layout where the trains are meant to be static. I want to cut the power to those couple areas and I do not have room for any of the small fastrack power disconnect sections. Would it be as simple as pulling up the center rail between 2 opposite rails at the start of the siding, cut each short so they don't touch and reassemble? Any help would be most appreciated!
John
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It is that simple. I use FT for my Christmas Tree layout each year and I needed to kill power to my sidings. Flip the track over and bend up the tabs holding the center rail, gently pry the rail up and you can wiggle the center pin out. Press the rail back down and fold the tabs back down. When you reassemble the track just make sure there is a gap between the rails.
Bob
Thank you so much, I really appreciate it!
You can also simply cut a rail and then add a switch. Here's a sample in the 1 3/8" section, but you can add this to any size piece of rail. A nice touch is on the left there is a little yellow LED that indicates when power is on the siding.
Thanks Gunrunnerjohn as always! I am assuming that I would basically cut the center rails and add a jumper with a switch in the middle to break the power? Electricity is not my strong suit....
Yep, it's that simple. If you just take a Dremel tool and slice the rail, you've solved the power issue. Obviously, you want to make sure you slide between the tabs that secure the rails so both sides stay in place. Solder a wire to a track tab on either side of the cut and run it through the switch. The miniature toggle switch just fits under the cavity, and I use JB-Weld to secure it.
The LED is just a 2mm LED stuck through a hole and a 2.2k 1/4W resistor, those are wired between the center and outside rails on the siding side.
Is that just a 2 position switch? Basically on/off?
If you are looking for a "factory" solution, you can use these Fastrack Block Section-6-12060 tracks to isolate the center rail (power) on a siding.
http://www.lionel.com/products...ock-section-6-12060/
PG 3 of the users guide has your use case drawn out:
Thanks BMORAN4 I have used those in the past but this situation I am in does not allow for additional track to be added or substituted.
If you have even room for a 1 ⅜ " fitter" you don't need to cut the center rail:
Just flip it over and remove the jumper:
Then plug spade terminal leads onto each terminal of the fitter and run them to a SPST toggle switch. Done! Cheap, simple, quick.
You mean like this Lew? I don't use the cheesy slip-on terminals, I solder them. I also add an LED so I know when the power is on the switched siding.
Yes, eggzacly like that! Nice neat job, John!
Oh, I now see it in your pic above 
I made a few of these when I was heavily using Fastrack.
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