Paint Creek Railroad

I honestly can't believe how long it took me to lay all of the track and put roadbed underneath but it's finally done.  The most challenging part was the lift up bridge.  I watched a few videos on how to build it and it looked easy but wow, what a pain it was.  I still have to do some more landscaping and finish the shelves but that can come later.  I need to figure out how to wire the Ross switches so the non-derailer function is enabled and then I will move on to setting up the DCS blocks and start wiring.  Attached are some pictures to show my progress.   

Vitto, making sure the roadbed and track are right does take time.  Yours looks great!  I know, those lift up bridges can be finicky to get right and sometimes they will expand or shift with the change of seasons even with a good dehumidifier.  Yes, I know from experience.  😃

I tested a few of my ross switches to get an idea on how to wire and after watching a few videos that made me more confused, I spoke with Steve at Ross and he really helped me out.  Even though I wired it up years ago, I need to figure out to wire the operating bridge than I will to start my home run wiring for DCS setup using my Z4000.  After that, I plan to wire up all of the switches to my MTH bricks.  Does this sound like a good plan?

Vitto, that sounds like the plan I used successfully!

So once again, I am confused and need help from those that know a lot more than me.  When I my had a layout years ago, I used Lionel tubalur track.  I used what I believe was the home run or star method of wiring and connected the hot and common to a piece of track within each block.  My understanding was that it didn't matter which outside rail was used because they were connected by the metal pieces holding the track together.  I am now using Ross/Gargraves track and when I look at it, it doesn't appear to me that two outside rails are connected.  So when I wire up the layout for track power, do I have to run common to both outside rails? 

Vitto, I wired my layout using home runs (star method) and connected both outside rails to the common wire, but you don't have to.  Some people use the second rail for detecting the train location for signaling and other uses, but I have never pursued that.

So I finally got some wiring done but it seems to have some issues.  Starting with my Z4000, I ran 14 gauge wire from both handles to the TIU.  Using banana plugs, i am able to switch back and forth from fixed to variable and even though, I plan to use variable, I started out with fixed for some testing.  I wired up 5 blocks by running wire from the TIU to a board that splits out to 5 different blocks.  Putting one of the handles on 18 volts, i put some lighted cabooses on the track and they seem to sometimes flicker as I push them around the track.  I decided to pull out a conventional engine and put it on the tracks in fixed mode so I can control it from the Z4000 handle for some testing.  It seems to lose a connection then get it right back as the engine will stop and then maybe change directions.  I imagine it is because of loose connections so I checked them all and they seemed good as I am using spade connectors.  I'm gonna do some more checking of the connections and do some more testing but is there something that I am missing?

Vitto, it sounds more like dirty track. Run a voltmeter probe along the length of the section to check voltage along the way. If it changes up and down that is a pretty good indication of something on the track. If the voltage only decreases as you move away from the feed, it would be more likely in the rail connections. The bad connection can be either on the power or the neutral side (red/black),

Under transformer control, a drop in voltage can trigger the directional control to switch from forward to reverse (it does not need to go to zero). Of course there are other gremlins which can cause similar issues - the worst is an intermittent bad connection.

I used painters tape to cover my rails while I was laying in scenery. The residual tape glue was surprisingly enough to create similar issues,

i went out a got a cheap voltage meter and seemed to be getting some consistent readings so I figured the connections were good.  then did some reading and took the advice of others to get some QD contact cleaner and bam, success. now i have to finish my track wiring so i can move on to the switches.  thanks to all that post and help out those like myself. 

It sounds like you are moving right along, now!