I know nothing about super street but was thinking i would like it in my layout. can i use it along with my lionchief r2r set?
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Straight sections, yes; curved sections, no.
Straight sections, yes; curved sections, no.
SuperStreet cars are also AC powered, just like your train. But the question really that you need to make clear is are you planning on running your RTR train on the SuperStreets, or are you wanting to run SuperStreet cars on your train track or on SuperStreets track alongside your trains on train tracks?
The RTR train will not be able to go on the tight SuperStreet turns. The RTR train is most likely O36 minimum if a newer set, or O27 minimum if older. SuperStreet track is made as D21 and D16 which is the same as O21 and O16 in train track terms.
Also is there away to control the speed of the super street cars? The videos that I've seen looks like the cars are moving at warp speed
SuperStreet cars are also AC powered, just like your train. But the question really that you need to make clear is are you planning on running your RTR train on the SuperStreets, or are you wanting to run SuperStreet cars on your train track or on SuperStreets track alongside your trains on train tracks?
The RTR train will not be able to go on the tight SuperStreet turns. The RTR train is most likely O36 minimum if a newer set, or O27 minimum if older. SuperStreet track is made as D21 and D16 which is the same as O21 and O16 in train track terms.
The SS cars work just like the trains, the more power you give them, the faster they go. To slow them down, turn the power down. Lee Willis here on the forums makes his own SS cars and has a lot of experience with the system. He'd be a good reference for you. As for the crossing, it's basically a 90 degree crossing, so there is no electrical isolation between the SS and FT paths, that I know of. Lee may know otherwise. My assumption has been that one transformer would power both loops since you have the tracks connected by that crossing piece.
I have SuperStreets blended with FasTrack, but all my powered vehicles (locos and road vehicles) are Command Control. So both track and Streets are powered to about 18 volts.
I have command control but never thought about using it with my Super Streets, as all my vehicles are conventional that fit on my track.
You can use Super Streets with any power source, AC or DC, as long as your vehicle can take the power source. There is no electronic parts with Super Streets.
However Bachmann is planning on adding switches to the E Z Street line-up later this year or next year sometime. The switches might be current sensitive to AC.
Lee Fritz
The Fastrack grade crossing is designed so the Fastrack is insulated from the roadway. The street vehicles run at their own speed via a DC or AC powered transformer. I had these operating on my store layout for several years with very little issues. The hard part is getting the vehicles to "Stop Look and Listen"!
Has anyone ever set up the Superstreets Grade Crossing to electrically operate the street ends only when a set of crossing gates were in the "up" position? I have to believe it's possible with relays etc..
Oops, sorry as I forgot that LionChief doesn’t use a transformer. So unless you buy a complete Superstreets vehicle set with a transformer you would have to buy a transformer to control the speed and direction of the roadway vehicles. And you will need at least 2 sets of feeder wires, one on each side of the crossover.
Because it’s obvious I’m not very familiar with LionChief, I don’t know if there would be any interface problems so I’ll leave that for someone who is familiar with BOTH LionChief and Superstreets to answer.
But I see that Mark also agrees that you will likely need 2 crossovers.
Bill
LionChief has to have a transformer, how else does the track get power? It's just not a variable output transformer, but it still is a transformer.