DCC Gauntlet track...

[sizemore]

I have a single siding connected too but insulated from the main which is currently used as a programing track. I wanted to add a toggle to switch between programing and "live" using a DPDT switch. Is there anything I should take into consideration before wiring in the DPDT switch to the main and using the siding to program then switch to the "live" connection? My concerns are frying decoders.

The S.

[central.vermont]

S,

The only thing I would suggest is that you use a DPDT center off switch. I
have done the same thing. Using a switch with a center off position will
prevent any chance off getting a short between main and program.

Jon

[mmyers]

You need to remember to never, ever run any train across the gap between the program track and the powered track while that DPDT switch is in programming mode. Doing so will connect your booster's track power outputs to its programming outputs. That will fry the programming outputs.

Martin Myers

[DKS]

You need to remember to never, ever run any train across the gap between the program track and the powered track while that DPDT switch is in programming mode. Doing so will connect your booster's track power outputs to its programming outputs. That will fry the programming outputs.

In light of this, I might recommend one of two things...

If possible, establish a length of track longer than a locomotive between the turnout and the end of the siding with a gap, and wire it to go dead when the siding is in programming mode.

Alternatively, connect the siding to a relay, instead of a toggle, that's wired in parallel with the turnout (assuming it has a switch machine). When the turnout is aligned with the siding, the siding is set to run in "live" mode; when the turnout aligned with the main, the siding is set for programming mode. (An indicator light might also be helpful to remind you of the mode of the track.) This should prevent any accidents.

[John]

or, better yet .. have a programming track not on the layout .. I used a board with some track on it, that sits near my workbench ..

[DKS]

or, better yet .. have a programming track not on the layout .. I used a board with some track on it, that sits near my workbench ..

Well, having it connected to the layout does make for the convenience of not having to re-rail locomotives. Particularly if one has a Challenger or the like...

[wm3798]

Separate track off the layout.  Idiot Proof, from a proven idiot!

Lee

[sizemore]

The siding is off another siding which leads into the "switching district", so care is usually taken anyway. It would be hard for a runaway to get off the main and short the siding. I think the DPDT-CO will work. Let me finagle something over the weekend. Thanks guys!

The S.

[wm3798]

Doomed... YOU'RE DOOMED

Seriously... I thought about putting a spur off the turntable to be a programming track.  But the turntable area isn't convenient to my work bench, where I do most of the readback, programming and testing.  That said, my programming track does have a DPDT that allows me to apply track power to run rudimentary testing, such as to make sure the lights work, the motor isn't wired upside down, and things like that.  But at no point can the programming function and track power function be turned on simultaneously.

But still, with ops sessions and the occasional new crewmember drifting through, it's better not to have something on the layout that can prove to be fatal to the system should someone make a mistake...

Lee

[DaveB]

or, better yet .. have a programming track not on the layout .. I used a board with some track on it, that sits near my workbench ..

Well, having it connected to the layout does make for the convenience of not having to re-rail locomotives. Particularly if one has a Challenger or the like...

If things can go wrong, they will....  It's a classic tradeoff between doing something inconvenient every time or risking serious damage to a (rather expensive) part of the system.

[sizemore]

Doomed... YOU'RE DOOMED

Seriously... I thought about putting a spur off the turntable to be a programming track.  But the turntable area isn't convenient to my work bench, where I do most of the readback, programming and testing.  That said, my programming track does have a DPDT that allows me to apply track power to run rudimentary testing, such as to make sure the lights work, the motor isn't wired upside down, and things like that.  But at no point can the programming function and track power function be turned on simultaneously.

But still, with ops sessions and the occasional new crewmember drifting through, it's better not to have something on the layout that can prove to be fatal to the system should someone make a mistake...

Lee

If things can go wrong, they will....  It's a classic tradeoff between doing something inconvenient every time or risking serious damage to a (rather expensive) part of the system.

Jeez guys! My layout is not Op's worthy, it's just an elaborate roundy round which shares the same trackplan as Vollmers. I was thinking of using a Tortoise that lifts a small "bumper" through the tracks at the "seperation" point between the siding and the rest of the switching district/mainline.

The other thing I need to consider is that I am using the PR3 so I can interface with JMRI for making fleet programing easier. I want to be able to program from either so that means a DPDT switch as well.

The S.