Total Newbie Needs Layout Help (More Dollars Than Sense)

First thing I would try is cleaning the track, and if that does not help then I would add additional power connections to the center rail. Some people say every six feet for a power connection, but you may try adding the connections at the point where you notice the locomotive first start to slow down. Good luck, and welcome back to the hobby. Rich

What gauge of wire are you using to feed the track?  When you run a feeder to the far side of the layout, use at least 18 gauge wire.  Bigger is better.

just like everyone else has said on a bigger loop add more feeders to the track one at the far end should fix the slowing down. sounds like you have a really nice start

... I actually have more train stuff than I know what to do with. Yesterday, after raiding my bank account I made the buy of a lifetime and for around $1,500 I walked out of my local hobby shop with the following...Now, I have all of this stuff, more stuff than I could imagine but have no idea how to hook any of it up, I am totally lost. 

By the way it should be known that I am running Lionel FasTrack and that I think I am having a power issue. I am running the 773 in conventional mode and when the train makes it to either far end of the layout it slows down and sometimes totally stalls.

Sounds to me like your LHS took advantage of you and this happened because you acted on impulse. Stop where you're at, take a breathe, and get organized before going any further.

I'm going to address your layout first, and then finish with your power problem. Lack of planning your layout will lead to frustration and waste of time, money and enjoyment. Here is a condensed list of how to plan your layout. I'm pressed for time today, so if you need any further explanation, please let me know.

• Create a theme for the layout taking into account a time period and type of operations that will be conducted on your layout. The theme can be as real or fanciful as you like. Creating a theme will help you stay focused.
• Think about locomotives and rolling stock you would like to run on your layout. This will help determine the minimum radius for the layout and how the locomotives will be controlled. (Legacy/TMCC/DCS/Conventional) At this point, also think about any scenery and operating accessories you would like on your layout.
• Create a track plan. Will it be a point to point, out and back or continuous loop layout? You can doodle out a draft with pencil and paper or use layout design software. If you are unsure if a particular track plan will work, post it here and many of the fellow forum members can review it and offer suggestions. When creating a track plan, don't forget to incorporate your scenery ideas and operating accessories to ensure they will fit.
• Select the best benchwork for your finalized track plan.
• Determine power and electrical requirements.
• Start building and enjoying the layout.

Two things you mentioned made me perk my ears. First, you stated you are running your 773 in conventional mode. Have you run the 773 using TMCC yet? To set up the layout with TMCC, run a wire from the A post of either of your transformers to the middle rail. Run a wire from the U/Common post to either or both of the outside rails. Run a wire from the TMCC base to the same U/Common rail as you did the transformer. Program the locomotive per the instructions.

The second thing is you bought a Powermaster, but you didn't list any conventional locomotives. If all of your locomotives are Command Control, the Powermaster is not required. If you plan to purchase conventional only locomotives in the future, then you will need the Powermaster in order to control those locomotives using power from the PowerHouse.

Now on to the power problem. Below represents an oval of track with Lionel O-60 FasTrack. This is how I would wire it and where I would place drops.

As I mentioned earlier, I'm pressed for time, so I am typing as fast as I can. If you have any questions or feel I've left something out, ask away.

Holy cow,

Yea it definitely sounds like you got taken for a ride by your local hobby store. And this is the problem with most LHSs, overcharge, oversell, and under deliver. In general they are not looking out for you and would rather sell you what they have instead of what you need.

My recommendation is to take it all back and research what you want your RR to be. This will help you control your spending as well. Me, I love the big steam engines with all the bells a whistles. This forces me to the 0-72 track and Legacy. I keep the wallet strings tight on anything that does not fall into this category. Yea there is a bigger price but the money I save on completely random items helps.

In your post above you bought a out of date TMCC system when the DCS system you bought runs TMCC trains. Additionally why buy a TMCC system if Legacy is available and will also run TMCC. Classic example of LHS mining your wallet. TMCC is really out of date and there is no good reason to have it. Hence the new old stock.

If reading to do your research is not your thing then there is always youtube. There is a vast amount of information available on video and some of it is entertaining. ericstrains is a forum favorite start there. Lionel also produces some great videos on their products under LIONELCS2011 and LionelEngineering.

Good luck dude, be patient. The current ways of purchasing trains these days almost requires preorder which may a lot of the present high end and really cool items unavailable. Beyond that internet shop. check out the forum sponsors websites and those are great sources of trains and equipment and will have additional stock that your LHS just plain does not have. If you are looking for something in particular ask on this sight and I guarantee that someone will respond with a possible source for new at the best price or used in good condition.

Thank you for the advice. My LHS sold me some track cleaner and this sort of brick thing so I'll go ahead and clean up the track. As far as adding connections I ought to let you know I sadly have no idea about the wiring. The extent of my wiring at this point is a Lionel FastTrack terminal piece hooked up to my TIU or Transformer.

I really wish I knew. All the wiring talk is Chinese to me.

Thank you, once I figure it out I will take this to heart, especially as I expand my layout.

Thanks a ton for all of the detail and guidance! As far as my layout is concerned I don't plan on running any conventional trains. The Powermaster was sold to me by my LHS as something to give my layout "more juice." As far as hooking up the TMCC it's all Chinese to me and I really don't know what the dealio is, I appreciate your help but I have no prior wiring experience. I also appreciate greatly the diagram of when to add power hookups. Do you add those from a separate power source or the main transformer?

Thank you so much for all of the the tips. That being said I really do love my LHS guys, they are family friends and very old-school kind of people. I will look at these online sources as well though. My plan, scenery aside from my layout is to run what I like/have. I have these Rio Grande Diesels and two scale Hudsons. It's a tad bit of a strange combination. From here on out all of my engines will be scale so I have an 0-60 loop and have the 0-72 loop in progress. My LHS just needs to take delivery of the track.

As for why I bought the TMCC. I am currently 17 years old. I have neither the desire nor the money to buy first hand scale engines. With this in mind I won't be buying any Legacy equipped engines in the foreseeable future. This combined with the fact that Legacy confuses the heck out of my is why I bought the full TMCC set. I and am waiting on the DCS-TMCC cable but I also like the fact that the TMCC CAB-1 does unlock some features in some locomotives that operation with DCS wouldn't offer. Oh, I also just really like vintage stuff and the huge radio antenna really makes me happy.

Right now the biggest issue I am having is knowing how to wire power hookups and what to do to hook up my TMCC. Do I need to buy more wires? I don't know. I appreciate the attention that this thread has garnered and I hope soon I can be running some trains the way they were meant to be run! Attached are some pictures of my wiring just so I can show whats going on.

Thank you all so much!

Sorry for the triple post but two things I wanted to mention without them getting lost in the sea of quotes and my replies to them.

The MTH RailKing Mohawk ran perfectly fine on both loops of track in DCS Command Mode.

Also I just found an old spool of red/black electrical wire and a set of red/black banana plugs. Would this be good for trying to work out how to wire power to the track and/or how to wire TMCC?

Every piece of fastrack has two connection tabs built right into the bottom, one goes to the center rail (power), the other one goes to both outside rails (common).  Take the wire that you now use between your transformer, and the track off of the track and bring it to an electronics store or maybe even your LHS, and get some female end connectors the same size So that your new connections will fit onto the tabs under the track. You may also want to get a terminal block or two. 

Make a wire, or a set of wires for each place you want to put a power drop, and make them each long enough to reach from the connection point to a common point where you will connect them to the terminal block. All you have to do is cut the wire to length, strip off a little of the plastic covering, insert the bare end into the connector, and crimp it together, now slide it onto the appropriate tab under the track. Connect the other end to the terminal block. When you have all of your power drops connected simply run your last wire fron the transformer terminal to the the terminal block. You have now connected your power drops. 

It's all just one step at a time. Good luck. Rich

Legacy is so not complicated. My 10 and 8 year old nephews run my layout just fine. I let them run my VL stuff with no worries. Last Christmas I gave them a LionChief+ locomotive and I ended up having to upgrade it to a legacy train because even they lost interest without the Legacy.

Hey jedderbob,

Well, you need to wire for two command control system. The MTH DCS is more finicky than TMCC, so wire for that and TMCC will be good.

The wire looks good. Visit an Advance Auto Store and get some .110 Quick Disconnect terminals. These will connect to the tabs on the bottom of FasTrack. You can get 'em cheaper on eBay, but I figure you want to run some trains. If you can solder, you can solder the wire to those tabs.

How many terminals do you have on the MTH green thingy? 12 or 24.

The track wires will go this and the TIU out will go to red and black knobs at the bottom. This distributes the power around the track. First try pairs to 12, 3 , 6 and 9 0'clock on the two loops. That will use up 8 connection points. Refinement later. Re is hot or center rail, black is common.

Then connect pure power transformer to the TIU fixed variable in. Use the CW-80 to the Aux in to power the TIU.

Next connect a wire from the TMCC to and outside rail on the FasTrack. Plug the barrel connector into the base.

Now you need a place to plug those three in.

If you want to run conventional, you can dial the track power up with the DCS remote.

If you dial it up full, you can run command locos with either remote. Use the TMCC remote for Lionel and the DCS remote for the MTH to get started. There are other options.

I don't know what you need the PH-1 for unless the pure power is a low amp transformer.

The PH-1 is about seven amps.

Refinements, additions and other advanced methods will come next. Run your trains.

 Edit: sorry I was in a hurry and it was early.

I think I have a good idea of what is going on with your layout now. Let's start by going back to my list on how to plan a layout and walk through the steps. This will help get you focused on your project and will ensure I cover information I left out inadvertently because I was in a rush while writing my previous post.  

Purpose

In my rush to get to your situation, I left out this step. I believe this is the first and most important as it sets the stage for everything that follows. Before all else, we need to know why your layout exists. "What is the purpose for my layout?" Here is a sampling of questions to consider: Is it just for you or will you have friends over for a running session? Will it run in the background or will you be hands-on in all operations? Since this is your first layout and you are new to the hobby, your purpose statement should be: The purpose of my layout is learn about layout building to include building a train table, wiring a layout consisting of Lionel FasTrack, and how to use command control. This will be the building block for the rest of this process. It's easy and pinpoints three areas to focus on.

Theme

Because I want you to focus on learning the basics of building a layout, we will not focus on a theme at this time. After completing the layout, you can then go back and establish a new purpose for the layout and create a theme. The theme is the building block to assist you in focusing on scenery, accessories, rolling stock and a track plan.

Locomotives and Rolling Stock

I bought plywood, sawhorses and a loop of 0-63 O-60 track

As far as my layout is concerned I don't plan on running any conventional trains.

The Powermaster was sold to me by my LHS as something to give my layout "more juice."

power hookups. Do you add those from a separate power source or the main transformer? Do I need to buy more wires?

Also I just found an old spool of red/black electrical wire and a set of red/black banana plugs.

...and what to do to hook up my TMCC.

These videos are from Eric at Eric's Trains and do a great job of explaining Legacy/TMCC/DCS. This first video addresses the compatibility of the systems.

The next two videos show you how to operate TMCC engines with DCS.

Part 1

Part 2

Carl mentioned above that DCS is finicky. The best practice for wiring DCS is to run Star Wiring which is different than the Bus Wiring method I described above. Here is a diagram of what this wiring would look like.

I looked up the spec's on your MRC Pure Power transformer. It puts out 130W compared to the Lionel 135W PowerHouse. As Carl also mentioned, you may not need the PowerHouse based on your engines and rolling stock collection. You'll want to discuss this further with someone more local who can properly access your power needs or email me offline.

Carl, you changed from fixed voltage to variable voltage input. Was there a specific reason for this that I didn't see? Since all of his locomotives are either TMCC or DCS, he will not need to use the variable terminals which are used to control conventional locomotives. He should plug the transformer in Fixed Voltage In1. This will also negate an external power supply to power the TIU.

Then connect pure power transformer to the TIU fixed variable in. Use the CW-80 to the Aux in to power the TIU.

Stewart,

I primarily changed it to provide him with the option of running conventionally with the DCS Remote.

He would just need to dial it up for command running. he just needs to set the voltage of the pure power at 18 volts.

he is running the Lionel command J1e in conventional mode until he figures things out.

Nice connection diagram. He may have to make one isolation point(all three rails)somewhere to keep the DCS signal from running back on itself. I figured we would do that if he has problems. The 5" Block track with both wires disconnected would do that.

Puzzle pieces connected!

Yea it definitely sounds like you got taken for a ride by your local hobby store. And this is the problem with most LHSs, overcharge, oversell, and under deliver. In general they are not looking out for you and would rather sell you what they have instead of what you need.

LHS comments

overcharge? $2000 list of items for $1500 not closeout prices put a nice amount off retail.

oversell? Maybe undersell, sold Tmcc equipment to run tmcc and controls to run and match the transformers already owned.  Could have sold legacy and larger PH for future expansion.

under-deliver? I dont know, was extra help refused when asked of LHS, or was it more convenient to ask for help here?

Jetterbob,

   These guys are giving you good advise I will add this, purchase both the DCS O gauge Companion and the OGR Video Guide to DCS, use the Free Legacy instructional videos also.  Then as you build come back and ask specific questions here not the OGR, and we will help you with any questions you might have, Barry does a great job with his DCS Instructional information and Rich does a great job with the Video Guide also.  The Legacy Instructional info is good but not not on the Par with Barry & Riches stuff. 

Have fun learning and building our layout.

PCRR/Dave

Throw away the scrap wire, go to Lowes or Home Depot and buy 14-gauge stranded copper wire, type THHN, for all track feeds.  Get 2 colors at least, one for ground (outer rails) and one for hot (center rails.  For DCS and optimal conventional operation, divide layout in blocks by insulated gaps in center rail  Use only one hot drop to center rail.

Fantastic, The LHS’s defense…

So let’s address these one at a time:

“overcharge? $2000 list of items for $1500 not closeout prices put a nice amount off retail.”

Retail…? Nobody pays retail prices for Lionel products. It is well known that the catalog prices are some kind of fictional entity that we all uses to justify buying a $2000.00 VL Big Boy. Because we got such good deal, the retail price is $2699.99. So if I convert that to what you say is retail $2000.00 worth of stuff, the fresh from the factory price should be about $1500.00. Now you throw in the fact that the stuff you sold him is 20 years old and out of date technology that nobody with a modern layout uses. We have a serious problem. As most of the stuff that was bought is really well built and will last a long time, he would be better off buying second hand. I’m shocked you even had an original TMCC set on the shelf. I don't know of anyone that still sells that new. If he wanted new why not buy the updated set that was stocked by Lionel a few years ago when they ran out of legacy systems?

“oversell? Maybe undersell, sold Tmcc equipment to run tmcc and controls to run and match the transformers already owned.  Could have sold legacy and larger PH for future expansion.”

Now your just making this too easy. First this does not match the transformer he already has. I’m shocked that nobody above has mentioned this but the MRC AH501 130 Watt Pur Power Transformer he has is a pure sine wave transformer. Anything in a modern system and especially command control should be a chopped sine wave. This transformer is pure garbage and has no utility on a modern layout. I would not even run accessories with it. More than likely if you did not hook up the 135 watt powerhouse this is the root of most of your problems. Now the 135 watt powerhouse. This too is an to say the least old (as it is not even the latest version of the 135 watt that is no longer made as 180 watt is the standard) and definitely not preferred but will better serve you in command control. Now suggesting you could have sold him legacy with a larger powerhouse, that is just insulting to the boy. If he wants to be serious (which his post implies) about RRing this is the latest standard. Of course this is what you should have offered. But no. you chose to take advantage and sell what you had in stock just to get rid of it. Shamefull really. And given the fact that he already has DCS why sell TMCC period. DCS runs TMCC. He points out that he wanted to unlock all of the TMCC features but effectively DCS runs them all. There is almost no gain by purchasing TMCC. The features he is more than likely referring to is the features gained by buying Legacy as DCS will only do TMCC. I can’t figure that one out?

“under-deliver? I dont know, was extra help refused when asked of LHS, or was it more convenient to ask for help here?”

Good point why not take all of your purchases, pack them up, take them down to the hobby store, and get them to teach you. If they are such great family friends then why are they not over at your house setting this up for you?

With all of that said... What you are trying to obtain (TMCC layout) is really not that bad as most people still run TMCC today. There are a lot of great in expensive choices that will provide hours of entertainment. TMCC is a serious layout. Your choices in getting there are something to be desired though. I am willing to bet a lot of the stuff you paid top dollar for could have been obtained much cheaper. Several years ago I gave away two TMCC sets that were in perfect working order. I seen 3 used 135watt powerhouses sell for $35 for them all. I sold many of my TMCC locomotives years ago when legacy came out for less than $200. As for what you do, that is up to you. I am only responding to your request for advice.

Alright guys here is what I have got for you all. Thank you by the way so much for telling me whats up in the hobby and how to get my layout going. As for my layout, I will unfortunately not be able to build a frame and "real" benchwork right now because of concerns of how to easily remove the layout when it comes time to sell the house. Sadly the sawhorses will stay but I will be bracing the plywood. I now have an official track plan. My LHS has my track, the powermaster for the powerhouse and is only waiting on my DCS-TMCC cable. That is the official layout status update.

I was able to hook up my TMCC Command Base by using a piece of terminal track and only using the ground wire. I have been running the J1e in command mode and this thing sounds great! Also new to Lionel so the TowerCom feature is really entertaining. Anyway, in conventional mode the train still has power issues but it runs more smoothly. Is more power required for steam than diesel by the way because the K-Line Rio Grande A-B unit I picked up has a lot less trouble making it through. Trying to run them together, there in nearly no power. I also found out that my MTH terminal block is the 24 Port version.

Anyhow, here is the official track plan that I will be working with:

The Roman numeral 1-6 represent the individual plywood planks that I have/will have. Each plank is 4 feet by 8 feet. The A, B and C represent the full 8 feet by 8 feet squares that are made up out of each set of two plywood planks.

The Green track around the outside marks the 0-72 mainline. All curves on this loop will be 0-72.

The Orange track inside of the green is the 0-63 mainline. All curves on this loop will be at least 0-63.

The blue marks future additions. A yard and a small loop inside done with 0-63 curves.

All switches will be 0-72

I am buying some of the FasTrack wiring kits that were mentioned earlier as well.

Winston, thank you for your post. There is definitely some truth to the matter of what we got but with that said. Our LHS is run by two guys that are in fact family friends. 

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Z+and+Z+Hobbies+Hamilton+NJ

The only issue is that if you read the reviews, we are there friends, many are not and they have a certain way about them that when combining the price of bringing them out for the day and the fact that my mom doesn't get their "ways" as much might be a bit of a problem.

Thank you all for the advise and I will post in here again as soon as I get my hands on the track and cables because I guarantee that I will have more problems sadly. 

Lastly, how is my avatar illegal? Is there some sort of vendetta that OGR has against scale Hudsons?

Just to clarify that I am under the impression that DCS will not allow for my TMCC trains to use their TowerCom and CrewTalk features. Is that not true?

Terms of service #9.

We encourage you to use an 'avatar' which is a small photo that will appear under your screen name on each of your posts. Please make sure that, if you choose use an avatar, your face appears in the photo. Please ensure that the photo is the same dimension horizontally and vertically (i.e., a square) and that it is no more than 100 pixels on a side. Avatars that do not adhere to these standards will be deleted.

You might consider eventually adding some track from your yard to the left mainline so that you can reverse the running direction.  I get bored when the trains can only run in one direction.

Your are having power issues with the Hudson because it has a pulmor motor. Those motors are power hogs.

I am working on a layout restoration where the builder purchased all of his supplies from that LHS. I spoke to them about the project and they knew quite a bit. That helped us out. eagle Scout Project. Ask them about the Walson's layout.

Will you be using all FasTrack? If so, it's 072 and 060. If you move the crossovers to the corners you'll take out the wiggle. I work up your plan in SCARM and then you have an inventory list for you shopping.

You may want to isolate the two mains with a separate transformer for each or two fixed channels through the TIU.

yes, it is true that you lose some features when running a TMCC\Legacy loco with DCS.

Having both systems connected means that you grab the remote for the type of engine to retain all features.

Don't sweat the avatar. It should be a likeness of you, but the moderators will let you know if they want it gone.

An expensive shop by nature? Visit another near you and compare.

If they didn't mention Legacy , well maybe they think you have too much money. "He'll be back with more" (Its been known to happen) 

"I was able to hook up my TMCC Command Base by using a piece of terminal track and only using the ground wire."

This worries me

????? You have not "skipped" a wire have you. The small black one is sort of a transmitting antennae, do not use that as your only connection for "Ground"/common.

Even if its working.

I don't know the ins and outs of the systems together real well, but that didn't sound definitely 100% right. 

Design, and price aside a second, he needs help establishing a better base knowledge of what he owns and needs to do to run it right.  

 I'm curious about the gauge of that twisted wire. 

Originally Posted by Winston

 

He points out that he wanted to unlock all of the TMCC features but effectively DCS runs them all. There is almost no gain by purchasing TMCC. The features he is more than likely referring to is the features gained by buying Legacy as DCS will only do TMCC. I can’t figure that one out?

Originally Posted by Jedderbob:

 

I will unfortunately not be able to build a frame and "real" benchwork right now because of concerns of how to easily remove the layout when it comes time to sell the house.

My LHS has ... the powermaster for the powerhouse...

 

 Trying to run them together, there in nearly no power.

Anyhow, here is the official track plan that I will be working with:

 

 

 

The blue marks future additions. A yard and a small loop inside done with 0-63 curves.

Originally Posted by Dale Manquen:

 

You might consider eventually adding some track from your yard to the left mainline so that you can reverse the running direction.  I get bored when the trains can only run in one direction.

Just to clarify that I am under the impression that DCS will not allow for my TMCC trains to use their TowerCom and CrewTalk features. Is that not true?

According to the DCS manual "All TMCC functions that have a corresponding DCS one-touch key (e.g. smoke on/off) are controlled by that key." So unless someone corrects me, you will still be able to control the TowerCom and CrewTalk features with DCS.

going off of his drawing here's what I came up with not exact but nice need to figure out a way for a reversing loop

For the reversing loop, change one of the turnouts in the yard ladder to a left hand type.

Wow! Again I am not disappointed by the amount of replies this has garnered in such short time. I have some questions to answer and more to ask. Also before I can continue I am sorry about the avatar. I was unaware of that rule and I will replace it.

Just to sort out the concern of how I have my TMCC Command Base wired. I have the black/ground wire from a piece of FasTrack terminal track hooked into the U post of the Command Base and the hot wire from that piece of terminal track is not connected to anything.

When I am running the trains I set the MRC Transformer to full power. That being said I would have thought that between the MRC Pure Power Transformer, the Lionel CW-80 and the PowerHouse/PowerMaster combo there would be enough power to do what I want which is.

• Be able to run at least one train on each mainline
• In the future be able to have engines sitting on the sidings/running in the small 0-60 loop.

As far as how I would wire that I thought it would be some combination of using the MTH Terminal Block along with the FasTrack feeder wire kits that were mentioned in an earlier post.

As far as the reversing loop, I totally agree. Dale thank you for the idea and I think that is how I'll go about setting that up.

CW80 is reportedly not compatible with DCS.

Jetterbob,

I had a similar start into the hobby.  One thing I learned very quickly is how many different ways there are to do anything and everything in regards to a layout.  Another thing I learned is how willing everyone is to share advise, tips, and tricks.  And that's AWESOME!!!  I'm quite positive I'd have made some costly mistakes if not for everyone's advise.

One of the things I got caught up in at the very beginning was knowing I wanted to do something cool but not knowing how or what to do.  So (like you) I went to my local hobby store and bought a bunch of stuff.  Turns out that I'm not using any of that initial splurge.  

Here's what happened; I went in and looked around.  I asked a couple of questions and then started formulating a plan in my head.  And then asked a few more questions.  I left with a ton more questions, some confusion, and a much lighter wallet.  This wasn't because the guys at the LHS were advising me the wrong way.  It was because they just didn't know.  Instead of accurate advise, they were answering my questions with their "best guess".  The bummer is that they were legitimately trying to help...but I got a bunch of stuff I ultimately didn't want or need.

Thankfully, there is a place (like this) that is full of people who love and know oodles of info on anything you want to know!!! 

Red would be power Black would be blocks

Sorry for the panic. That just didn't sound quit right with "only", and it wouldn't be the first time I've seen an incorrect grounding in electronics.(it should always be equally large, or largest on dc. I'm having "new browser fun". It started me differently, and I did miss some posts. I'll review this again later.

Just so everybody is on the same page:

Added for industry and some mountains and a lake just to show what can be done.

Here's a quick draft I threw together. I also attached the scarm file for anyone who wants to play around with it or tweak it. I'll explain what is going on in the layout in the morning.

Hi jedderbob,

I didn't like the last layout that worked up. Here's a revised offering for a double main and two crossover areas.

You have to pull the wire from the 1 3/8" between the switches if you wish to isolate the two loops.

The track plan is suitable for large format printing.

Here's a second offering for a double main with a 4 way crossover. You would have to modify the center rail connection under the 45° crossover if you wish to isolate the two loops.

The track plan is suitable for large format printing.

Thank you all for even more wonderful plans! The plan is to lay down the two outer loops with their switches and connections soon and to add more track. The holidays and a winter birthday will hopefully mean something along the lines of layout expansion. As for now here is what everything looks like.

Trains, Rolling Stock and Command Control supplies are all boxed up and out of the way.

The old 0-36 curves are all accounted for and waiting on a new home.

The new 0-60 Curves and some of the straight track are all tallied and waiting to be laid down.

The building supplies are all here except for four plywood sheets. These will arrive as soon as I can find someone willing to help me bring them back from Home Depot.

 Lastly, here is what the underside of one of the 8x8 tables looks like.

I can't wait to get the ball rolling on this project!

Thanks for all the help so far. You guys are a really awesome community and I can't wait to start posting pictures of the trains in action!

Stay tuned for more and thank you all so much.

-Jed(derbob)

 Again I don't even know if it could work that way, but Stewart understood my fear correctly.....and I couldn't remember which had the command leg, or if any also had a High Volt power grounding terminal.

 It wasn't exactly how I'd word it..."Added the wire"?...

Same page.....(thanks Stewart) Sorry