Large Scale Central

Help needed from you electronics gurus

Electronics Power and Sound
#1

On the back of our Bridgewerks 220-RM, there are two connection pairs labelled THROTTLE REMOTE. These pairs are for use with the Bridgewerks RC-100 radio control unit. They can also connect to push buttons (normally-closed switches) that allow youngsters to control a train. Push the button and the train goes; release it and the train stops.

With help from Dave at Bridgewerks, we got a couple of these buttons working. They are perfect for our young grandsons. We’re thinking about extending the concept by locating several of these buttons at various points in the garden so the boys can operate the trains from different locations.

To do this, we’re thinking of connecting one of the THROTTLE REMOTE pairs to two auto distribution blocks. The distribution blocks have a single 4 gauge input and two pairs of 8 gauge outputs. Theoretically, this I/O arrangement should allow one pair of wires running from a THROTTLE REMOTE to power four buttons.

It appears the THROTTLE REMOTE connections are very low-power. When we originally wired up the buttons, we were advised that, because the power was so low, there were no polarity issues related to which wire was soldered to which switch tag.

Please note that:
1) Radio and battery are not options for us, only track power.
2) We already have a spare pair of wires run through conduit from the indoor location where the 220-RM is sited to the garden location where we want to place the distribution blocks.

Will this approach work? Can you see a better way?

#2

Well, no replies, so it was trial-and-error time. Turns out auto distribution blocks work fine with the Bridgewerks, keeping in mind that the 220-RM’s connectors are for throttle only.

The plan changed after watching the boys use the dead-man switches described in the first post. The only normally-closed switches I could find were quite small, and painful for little fingers to hold down for any length of time. I decided to add a rocker switch as an alternative for the boys to use. Flip it one way, the train goes. Flip t’other, the train stops.

However, the Bridgewerks only allows one closed circuit at a time. Connecting both switches directly to the distribution blocks didn’t work.

The solution was to run the power from the distribution blocks to a rotary switch, and solder the pairs for the dead man and rocker switches to it. I could only find a 3-pole 4-way rotary switch, so I used two poles and monkeyed around until I found out which pins to solder the pairs to. Finding a chart on the web helped!

I wanted the boys to have three choices: deadman, rocker and disabled (i.e., the train runs off the indoor controller, something we want to do occasionally). There’s an adjustment washer on the rotary switch that limits the number of stops, so it was just a matter of setting it to three.

There are still plenty of pairs left on the distribution blocks, so the original plan is still on the agenda. For a total amateur, this has been a fun project, and I know the boys will appreciate the rockers.