T-TRAK philosophical question

[Dave V]

Wanted to learn more about how the buses are set up for T-Trak in the new David Popp book but found his little 2-pager on T-Trak wiring to be pretty weak on wiring diagrams. He focused more on how you can physically remove and add connectors to wires.

[wm3798]

Unless you're in a club that demands otherwise, the Kato Connectors are pretty much all you need.  The bus wire simply lays between the modules in the middle of the table, with periodic 3- way ports you can plug into.  There's zero brain science involved.

In order to make it functional in your home layout set up, simply create a female plug compatible with the Kato plug, and wire it into your control panel or DCC bus whichever way is necessary to make it work.

Lee

[Point353]

Wanted to learn more about how the buses are set up for T-Trak in the new David Popp book but found his little 2-pager on T-Trak wiring to be pretty weak on wiring diagrams. He focused more on how you can physically remove and add connectors to wires.

See if the following documents provide the information you seek:

http://www.trainweb.org/nrmrc/pubs/AppNote%20DCCforT-TRAKLayouts%201.pdf

https://ttrak.wdfiles.com/local--files/northern-virginia-ntrak-t-trak-division/T-TRAK_PowerPole_Feeders_Ver_2-1.pdf

https://www.nmra.org/sites/default/files/t-trak_documentation-september_19_2019_final.pdf

[randgust]

I've got mine set up so that I can toggle between my 'standard' 4-pin DC throttle system I use on my layout (including the Blue Snail 9V battery) with a front plug on the fascia, or default to the T-trak standard power bus.  Every module has a Kato connector on the back.  And I've made adapters to also plug into the Kato pin system with my existing throttles.

I set my modules up entirely different for a show than I do for home use.   The Altoona guys will tell you, I 'split the main'  on a double into two one-track modules - one single track triple is Hickory Bridge and on the back of that  is Thompson - because I'm using a one-track T-trak compatible design at home.   That evolved because the Salamanca Branch was a one-track PRR main, and even when I have two tracks on a module, one is ballasted with cinders to look like a siding.  Mine get about as non-standard within our own modules as anybody, Lee Weldon and I are competing for that title.    Hickory Bridge was designed to interface West Hickory with the Hickory Valley logging modules, single track with no compromises, so that set off the whole business of designing single-track T-trak modules that still fit dimensions and footprints using a 'back to back' module approach.  I think I'm still the only guy pulling that stunt.

Yeah, it can be pretty jarring on transitions, but the upside is that I get to run train lengths and equipment over my own module set I can only dream about.  I think it was Ed's brass H9 PRR 2-8-0 with a long reefer train, DCC and sound, running on my PRR modules that were the highlight of my last show.  Can't do that at home.  So I was next door to an airport this year, but we got along fine!