MTH Realtrax Switches Power Questions

if i am correct the power for the engines will come from the track and the external power will power the switch machines only not the track. someone  correct me if i am wrong   

kevin

(1) No. Jumpers inside the track switch carry track power to all the center rails. Thus track power (the variable voltage being generated by the Z-1000 throttle) is fed from the center rails of track pieces adjacent to the track switch. Accessory 14VAC is only fed to the switch motor and the switch lantern, completely separate from track power. 

(2) Same answer, really. Power is fed to the center rails by inside jumpers.

Like Lew said, when you use aux power to power your switches, track power is still being fed into the switch - it's just not used to power the switch motor/lantern - so everything else basically works as if the switch were track powered.

What is the reason you want to power the switches via aux power - are you running a lot of conventional engines along with DCS ?

Sorry for just responding, but I spent most of last week finishing up the table. I did end up using track power for the switches and it's working well so thanks to all of you for the advice and information. I read something in Barry's book about trying to keep the DCS track signal from running through circuit boards so if I have issues I'll switch them over to accessory power.