Watchdog signal to spur tracks

@clem k Not sure how many tracks you have, but I never use the variable channels, so I wired them to the spurs that I use to store engines. I have a master switch that feeds toggles for the spurs and just switch the sidings on that I want to fire up, and then switch on the  variable channel (set to fixed). The master switch needs to be between the transformer and the TIU, of course.

Thanks John..... I'm using all four channels now, and I really don't want to go to super TIU, even though I should.  My yard is big enough now for a dedicated channel.

Clem

My experience has been that powering sidings with a toggle has only been a problem with PS3 engines. My PS2 engines start up in command by pressing shutdown or startup after powering the track. My PS3 engines will sometimes just take off. Gunrunnerjohn's Watchdog Generator is another option.

I use @gunrunnerjohn's watchdog generator on each of my main lines. When a siding's power is switched on (in my case using triacs), the watchdog signal from the siding's corresponding main line is instantly applied to the siding to effectively prevent an engine on that siding from turning on before it receives the desired DCS command. Even if the sidings were always powered up, I suspect there would be enough watchdog signal bleedthrough from the main lines to the siding tracks to keep all the engines tame.

Apart from this discussion of spur tracks, none of my PS3 lashups will work properly unless I use @gunrunnerjohn's circuitry.