Side track power.

I believe that the operating switches come with an extra curve piece to make it into a 45 or 22.5 degree curve(0-48 makes a 30 degree curve). On that extension piece, there's a wire connected to 2 tabs to keep power going to the rails. If that wire is removed, that section of track becomes insulated and thus the siding becomes unpowered. 

If your switch doesn't have those wires, you can remove the bar underneath the extension piece which also makes that track piece and subsequent track on the siding non-powered.

The piece to which I think you are referring is the small, 1 3/8 inch straight that has roadbed on one side only. That track also has the wire underneath that would, again, upon removal cut power at that section and the subsequent siding.

If you just want a siding to put your engines, then the above arrangement is fine. If you want to be able to put your consist on the siding, or have one come out on to the mainline, you won't be able to with the above arrangement. The only way to get a train on that siding with it being completely insulated would be a trailing point switch maneuver(backing in your train to the siding) as the engine and it's lead contact rollers would be on the powered track while backing in and would then stop once it hits the insulated section. 

I use the 1 3/8"  piece of straight track immediately after the divergence/turn out from the switch. 

Remove the jumper wire.

Connect power to the siding side of the jumper from the transformer passing through a light switch or a small On/OFF toggle switch. Only the HOT wire( RED ) for the center rail is needed to control the power to the siding.

The Half -Road Bed piece is used by O60 & O72 switches . For smaller switches, just use the standard 1 3/8". They all have a jumper wire.

I use the 1 3/8" piece and use the BPC2 to control the block from my iPad or Cab2.  I just installed one this weekend.  Have yet to tidy up.

Thank you!  So then is the toggle switch connected to the 1 3/8” piece of track?

Yes. Moonman describes the howto above.

Phil68 posted:

Thank you!  So then is the toggle switch connected to the 1 3/8” piece of track?

yes hot wire to switch other switch terminal to center rail of track - common(Black) is already there - ON/OFF

Power routing might be a good idea to pit into a high end FT switch in the future.

What LED toggle switches would you recommend?  I used lighted SPST toggles from Radio Shack on a previous layout.  Should they be rated around 10 amps?

Rick

Rixster posted:

What LED toggle switches would you recommend?  I used lighted SPST toggles from Radio Shack on a previous layout.  Should they be rated around 10 amps?

Rick

 

If you are running command control at 18 volts, the LED on most toggles are generally not rated that high and will burn out quickly. You can install a diode to reduce the incoming voltage to the LED. You can see the diode connected vertically on the wiring photo. Obviously, if you're only using one switch for one siding, the wiring is much simpler.

I got the toggles off Amazon - I believe they were rated at 12 A.

Be aware that some lighted switches have a direct path to ground when turned off. Not a problem until you span the unpowered siding with roller pickups from a powered track. You can ask me how I know because it took me a while to scope out. 

Richie C.,

I do not understand the yellow and green wires running between your series of toggle switches in the photo you posted.  I understand the theory of the hot and common wires with toggle switches controlling power to a section of track.  Could you please explain to me in simple terms?  Thank you.

Those look like generic widely-available automotive (12V DC) LED toggle switches - about $1-2 each on eBay, Amazon, etc.

In which case the Yellow wires are bussing the AC hot (from train transformer) to each switch.  The Green wires are bussing the AC common (from train transformer).  As he mentions he inserts a 5-cent diode which makes the switch's built-in LED compatible with AC command voltage.  In his photo, the "to LOAD" terminal has not been wired up yet.  These go to the center-rail (hot) of the 8 track sections under individual switch control.

Stan2004,

Thanks for the explanation.  I am wiring a new rebuilt MTH DCS layout.  Do you know if I can wire in the "bus" fashion you describe to power/control the toggles, or must I run individual hot and common in so-called star wire fashion for DCS?

Bill Brown posted:

Stan2004,

Thanks for the explanation.  I am wiring a new rebuilt MTH DCS layout.  Do you know if I can wire in the "bus" fashion you describe to power/control the toggles, or must I run individual hot and common in so-called star wire fashion for DCS?

As Stan pointed out, my wiring scheme was done to help cut down on excessive wiring. It was also much easier doing all the soldering on my bench rather than under the layout. I run DCS and Legacy on my layout and use a star pattern via an MTH distribution panel. Power to the lighted switches was just run from the panel.

I've attached a schematic sketch if that helps.

If you decide to use the lighted toggle switches and the diodes, remember that the diodes are not bi-directional and only go in one way.

Thanks; you are both gentlemen for the prompt responses.  Bill

Can the switch method be used for a multiple-switch siding? I've attached a scarm file of a siding I'm working on for my permanent layout. Will be used to store passenger cars and engines. Any suggestions? Curious.

GF93 posted:

… Any suggestions? 

I suggest you post your .scarm in a common format.

stan2004 posted:

GF93 posted:

… Any suggestions? 

I suggest you post your .scarm in a common format.

 

The red tracks are the 1 3/8" that would be isolated. Not sure if the placement of them is ideal.

In your configuration, you'd have 6 toggle switches to control on/off power to 6 sidings.  Not clear your question.  I suppose you could move one or more of the short red-sections closer to the mainline (i.e., before a switch) so that you'd only need, say, 3 toggle switches...where each toggle switch controls on/off power to a pair of side tracks.  

If you are using MTH DCS there is an additional/separate discussion about how to turn on power to a siding such that PS2 or PS3 engine powers up in command-control mode (i.e., silent).

stan2004 posted:

In your configuration, you'd have 6 toggle switches to control on/off power to 6 sidings.  Not clear your question.  I suppose you could move one or more of the short red-sections closer to the mainline (i.e., before a switch) so that you'd only need, say, 3 toggle switches...where each toggle switch controls on/off power to a pair of side tracks.  

If you are using MTH DCS there is an additional/separate discussion about how to turn on power to a siding such that PS2 or PS3 engine powers up in command-control mode (i.e., silent).

Thanks for your suggestion. I guess my question is, are 6 necessary? I was concerned with an amp overload powering many older incandescent bulbs in the cars at once, hence the need for a switch or two since the siding/yard will be connected to one of the main lines. Will be using DCS, so I'll read up on that. Thanks for the heads up.

You could divide the sidings among switches almost any old way (and a " track switch" is actually a "Turnout" on real RRs; very useful for discussion about electrically operated turnouts and the switches that turn on the juice😜)

A multi position rotory switch is another option for powering a single leg among many leg choices. The toggles offer multiple track legs to be on.

Rixster posted:

What LED toggle switches would you recommend?  I used lighted SPST toggles from Radio Shack on a previous layout.  Should they be rated around 10 amps?

Rick

 

I do not use lighted toggles - it complicates things - the lights need DC power - a switch with the simple labeling of ON/OFF works just fine - single pole single throw is fine - I use mini-toggles rated at 6 amps - some folks like big switches because of the heft

stan2004 posted:

I suggest you post your .scarm in a common format.

A nice compromise is PNG files.  They're compressed, but they're also lossless.  This means you can edit them later without losing any detail, and they're tons smaller than BMP files.

Moonman posted:

Rixster posted:

What LED toggle switches would you recommend?  I used lighted SPST toggles from Radio Shack on a previous layout.  Should they be rated around 10 amps?

Rick

 

I do not use lighted toggles - it complicates things - the lights need DC power - a switch with the simple labeling of ON/OFF works just fine - single pole single throw is fine - I use mini-toggles rated at 6 amps - some folks like big switches because of the heft

The led lighted toggles I use (link below) and pictured a few replies, above, by Stan and myself, are operated by AC power. Mine are connected to a terminal on an MTH distribution board powered from an MTH Z4K delivering pure AC power to the terminal board. The AC is not rectified to DC power at any point in the circuit as far as I know.

To me, that was the beauty of using these lighted toggles - that I could run them off the same transformer as track power and, because I generally run only command control, I could just insert a diode in the light circuit part of the switch to drop the incoming voltage to just the light to about 12v, so it would not burn out from receiving 18v. The main part of the toggle switch transmits the full 18v to the siding (subject to common voltage losses).

If the toggles had required DC power, I probably would not have bothered with lighted toggles because, like you said, it complicates things and would require "double" wiring.

I'm certainly no expert and someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding has always been that, generally, in our applications, the toggle switches we typically use can be powered by either AC or DC (obviously, depending upon what's needed at the outgoing end), because the mechanical part of the switch does not know what current it's being fed - it just mechanically switches that electrical current, whether AC or DC, from one pole to another. The part that is critical is the current rating of the switch. In general, as long as the current rating of the switch exceeds the maximum load in the circuit, you are good to go. And I believe there is a general formula for converting DC to AC ratings and vice versa.

If I'm wrong, I apologize in advance.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/prod...s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

I ran across this photo that I must have posted in a previous thread.  Many automotive switches use the quick-connect (Faston, spade, etc.) terminals which can be handy if soldering is not in your comfort zone.  As shown and discussed previously, the diode must be oriented with the silver band as shown (away from the switch).  A suitable diode will set you back a nickel or so; if you do ebay, search for "1N4003", for example: