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I have 4 electrically isolated loops and each loop has its own set of ground and power bus wires. I run Command/Legacy on two loops and PW Conventional on the other two loops. The Command/Legacy loops are powered by a ZWL.  The PW Conventional loops are powered by a ZW. Then I have a ZW that I use for lights/accessories. The ZWL and the ZWs, are in phase, and have a connecting Common between the three of them. I am trying to reduce the rat nest of wiring I have created, especially with accessory wires running in every direction, usually in pairs, back to terminal strips dedicated for accessories, and from there to accessory power/ground on one of the ZWs. It's a mess.

Doing things backwards......I am now reading Peter Riddles book on wiring and if I understand this correctly, I could have used one bus ground wire for the entire layout, including both track and accessories, Command and Conventional loops. Is that correct ?

If I have Accessory #1 power connected to ZW#1, the ground for Accessory#1 be connected to either ZW#2 or the ZWL ?

In order to reduce the risk of damage to my Command engines from shorts, etc,  would I be better off not to connect the ZWL common to the two ZWs common and leave the Command loops completely electrically isolated from the Conventional loops  ?

Lots of questions I know. I need to rewire the layout to reduce the rat nest and now is the time to get it right. 

Original Post

If you are never going to use command control on the loops connected to the ZW, there is no reason to connect the grounds together.

If you think you might, make sure the ZW is in phase with the ZWL.  Use a voltmeter, or a light bulb, and touch one lead to the common of the ZW and the other to the common of the ZWL.  If you have power, turn the plug around on the ZW and try again.  With no power between the commons, they are in phase.  You can know connect the commons together.  Since the transformer commons are internally connected, you really one need one wire between the transformer commons.

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