Isolated track section and crossing control?

Shown here

http://www.jcstudiosinc.com/BlogShowThread?id=410&categoryId=

Some things can be done without a relay,but the relay works a lot smoother.

Dale H

Thanks Dale!  I followed thelink but cannot seem to find the topic!

John:

Basically all you need to do this is create a section of insulated outside rail.  I'm assuming you are using tinplate track, so for a crossing, you'd probably want a minimum of 4 straight sections to be insulated.  Take the sections of track you wish to insulate and carefully bend the tabs on the tie holding the rail in place so you can free the rail from the ties.  To insulate the rail from the ties, use the same type of fiber insulator that is used to insulate the middle rail from the ties.  I've tried using electrical tape in the past and inevitably it fails.  Better to use the right thing at the start and avoid problems later.  Slide these insulators onto the outside rail, spacing them so they will each be on a tie.  Insert the insulated rail into the tie tabs and gently press them back down, securing the track to the tie.  You can keep the steel track pins in the insulated outside rail between the sections of track that make up your insulated section.  At either end of this multi-piece insulated track section, you must remove the steel pins and insert the plastic pins.  Once you have done this, re-install the insulated section onto your layout.

Attach the power wire from your crossing gates or lights to the transformer.  Attach the ground wire from the gates/lights to the insulated outside rail.  When the wheels of your train hit the insulated section, they will complete the ground between your outside rails and activate the crossing gates/lights.

Curt

Sounds easy!  So no relay needed?

Hi John, no relay is needed but as Dale said it will make your device operate alot smother. I have used Curt's technique before and it always works but the ground return through the train wheels is a little choppy.

With the relay it snaps in and holds, but things get a bit complicated with latching the relay so I would say to go with Curts plan.

Have Fun.

I wonder who sells the relays along with wiring diagrams?

John

There is a wiring diagram in the link I provided.

Does not work I see

Try this,see relays for block detection

www.jcstudiosinc.com/BlogCategoryMain?catId=426

Dale H

DEAR JOHN, BUY YOURSELF A LIONEL 6-14111 INFARED CONTROLLER.  THESE WORK GREAT TRUST ME

Hi John,

This was one of the topics we covered in my seminar on accessory wiring at the MTH booth at York.  Most tinplate crossing gates and signals are simple ON/OFF single circuit accessories.  For this type of accessory you don't need a relay, just an insulated rail as Curt described earlier.



Some accessories (mostly modern scale accessories) require one circuit to be powered when a train is present, and a different circuit when a train is absent.  These 2-circuit accessories do require a relay run off either an insulated section (my preference), an ITAD, or the old fashion pressure TAD's.  I like using the Z-stuff DZ-1008a relay and an insulated rail for many such applications.  They're fairly inexpensive, easy to power on most 3-rail layouts, and come with pigtails that make them easy to wire up.

Hope that helps.

I used a Z-Stuff for trains DZ-1008 relay to activate an MTH crossing signal with gates, wired as directed by Dave Hikels website, works Beautifully. I would not hesitate to use the same set up again. Daves schematic is VERY easy to understand and follow, Great Job Dave .

Doug