K Line operating watchman shanty

I don't know if this helps, since mine is hooked to tubular track with an insulated outside rail.  I'm not familiar with fastrack.  Doesn't fastback sport any insulated sections ?  If so, there must be a way of wiring your shanty to it.

Yes, Fastrack has insulated sections. They’re called “accessory activation pack”. 6-12029

Thanks do much your suggestions.

Charlie

Thanks so much.

Ed,

Do you know if there is a way to use the shanty with FasTrack but not purchasing the additional activation pack? The accessory comes with 3 wires. 2 go to the ac power and the 3 rd it says goes to the outer rail of the track. Could I just connect that wire to the outer rail of the FasTrack?

Charlie

You need an insulated track section. Depending upon how long you want the man to stay out can vary on how long the isolated track section/s are. It could be from one track to several tracks long. You only need to insulate the 1st and the last track.  The ones in between if you use several,  will be isolated from the rest by those two tracks. Here is a video on how to do it.

https://youtu.be/NWKCyTdKgL4

An alternative to using an isolated track is a trackside sensor such as Lionel’s 153IR (6-14111). It activates the accessory as the train passes it. https://youtu.be/t0mXmPWTLIs

Thanks Ed. That would work.

Welcome, and good luck.

You could remove the “pins” from one of the outside rails.  You will also need to remove the cross straps from the bottom of all pieces of track within your isolated section.  All you really need is a small flat blade screwdriver.

Outstanding Thanks

Just built a couple of Fastrack actuators for just this purpose!  Here ya go:

https://ogrforum.com/...24#81678117827132724

Mitch 

One important note:  You must remove the grounding strap from the bottom of the FastTrack section in question,  or the device will stay on.   Have fun and good luck!  

Mitch 

ToledoEd posted:

An alternative to using an isolated track is a trackside sensor such as Lionel’s 153IR (6-14111). It activates the accessory as the train passes it. https://youtu.be/t0mXmPWTLIs

That's what I use for a number of trackside items, including this shanty. Working great for the past 13 years.

Train Nut posted:

You need an insulated track section. Depending upon how long you want the man to stay out can vary on how long the isolated track section/s are. It could be from one track to several tracks long. You only need to insulate the 1st and the last track.  The ones in between if you use several,  will be isolated from the rest by those two tracks. Here is a video on how to do it.

 

https://youtu.be/NWKCyTdKgL4

Nice video, going to use this technique.

Thank you so much

Thanks. Seems like the easiet solution