Since this is a sub ended siding with the end of the line near the edge of the layout I work at that end, this leaves me a sufficient distance between the longest loco I have and the insulating gaps. Furthermore programing is not something I ordinarily do every time I'm running the railroad. With any thing that is out of the ordinary you just have to be aware of what you are doing and in this case is making sure you don't cross the gaps. I personally have not had a issue of the loco spanning the gaps during programing but I frequently forget to flip the switch to the programing mode before trying to program it. This returns an NO DECODER error which results in a bit of panic and thoughts that the decoder is not working. Gary
The major concern with this arrangement is not the possibility of programming everything on the layout, but the possibility of frying something in the command station. If the program track was left set for programming and you run an engine into it, it will short the main track outputs to the program track outputs. This may not damage anything, but I have heard reports of it happening to people so it is a risk I am not willing to take.
I hate to ask a stupid question, but can someone point me in the direction of a insulated rail joiner for Unitrak. Thanks I've probably seen them and not even known what I was looking at. ANd I am attempting to do the same and couldn't come up with a better way than sitting a length of track off to the side also. Does anyone know if a pair of Atlas insulated joiners might work?
Yep, the Atlas ones will work fine.. Just paint them so they don't stick out like a sore thumb in all their yellow glory.. Kato unitrack insolaters are basically the regular joiners without the metal clip in it. And they are black.. But, if all you have are the atlas ones, they will work fine...
Thats the way mine is oo. a section of track, a spur line that is not used, is my programming track. Since I use MRC Advanced2 Squared DCC system it just two wires from the programming jack to the spur. the main DCC power wire is to the rest of the track layout. Jerry Kramer Willamette Regional Railway Where Southern Pacific railway is in the Northeast US
If you're worried about having a locomotive bridge the gap between the programming track and the main while the programming track is switched for programming there is a way to prevent this. Set up the entrance to the programming track with another section of insulated track between the main track and the programming section. The second insulated section should be longer then the longest locomotive you plan on running onto the programming track. Use a quad pole double throw to run power to the two isolated sections. Use two of the poles to switch the programming track between the program and main outputs of the command station. Use the other two poles to connect the second insulated section to the mains of the command station. Don't make a connection between the program outputs and the second track section. Now if the switch is set to program there is an section of track between the main and the programming track that is isolated from both. Basically an insulated gap longer then your longest locomotive.
I didn’t trust myself to always remember to throw a switch for the programming track. I built a box for the command station. I glued a piece of C55 flex track on the box right above the command station and hooked the programming track wires to it. I put the box on heavy duty drawer slides and have a shelf on HD drawer slides right next to it for the computer. Very close to what Sandro did.
I had pretty much given up on having my program track part of my layout until I saw a video from Joe Fugate on how he did his program track. His was the same way as what you described. He has an isolated track on each end of the program track and a 4PDT switch that disconnects the two isolated track when the program track is active. When the programming is done he flips the switch and all three tracks become one track connected to the main. I saw a drawing for this wiring years ago and searched everywhere trying to find it again because I could not remember how it was done. In fact I think it was last year or maybe the year before I posted a question about it. I just drew this up as fast as I could, so please excuse the sloppiness.
The part # you are looking for is Kato 24-816. A though on isolating the program track - seperate the track into at least 3 pieces: The programming track (P), a buffer (B) and the mainline (M) which is connected as normal to the command station. With the switch in the 'programming' position the P track gets power from the program pins, and the buffer track is unpowered. With the switch in the 'main' position, both the programming and buffer track are given mainline power. While metals wheels on rolling stock would complicate things (seperate wheels could bridge both P-B and B-M at the same time), a buffer longer then 1 engine would ensure that trains are depowered before accidently running on or off the programming area.
