Large Scale Central

Isolated Track Power for Siding

I am looking for suggestions for isolating the track power on a siding.

I am running with analog power and would like to be able to have locomotives on various sidings without having to remove them from the track or turn off their engine if they have a switch.

I have seen the LGB Insulated track, but am confused about how the wiring works. Would I need a second throttle?

This is how I did mine back before Battery/RC.
I put an LGB yellow insulator on one of the rails just pass the switch (turnout) into your siding.
run a wire from one side of the insulator using a wiring rail clamp, out to an off / on switch somewhere, and then back to the other side of the insulator.
Turning the switch off or on kills the siding and powers it up again when needed.

Yep. What John said. This is considered Block Control. Before I went battery, my outdoor was divided into 5 blocks. I mounted regular SPST switches on a blank panel of an outdoor electrical box.

As a picture is worth a 1,000 words . . .

Note this has switches on both rails - for a simple siding you only need to isolate one side.

Thanks John! This is exactly what I was looking for!

Great! Thank you for providing this.

We use simple light switches installed in buildings to control a couple of passing sidings. It works great!

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For anyone that wants to keep their electrical system simple, and have a reference always at hand…especially if you don’t understand the basics of electrical control…fear not…just look for and purchase one of many soft cover books published by Kalmbach Publishing Company…“How to wire your Model Railroad”.
The instructions apply to all scales and gauges, as electricity doesn’t care about those things…
You can often find such books on the used book market, or at a model railroad flea market.
Fred Mills

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If you are using the LGB turnout motors, you can simply use the 1203 supplementary switch that connects right to the motor. Then you wire the switch so that when the turnout points to the siding, the siding goes live. When the turnout is switched away from the siding, the siding goes dead.

There is no need to mess with any other switches/wiring.

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I thought that LGB switches were power controlled by which way they were switched. Since I never used them that way, I really don’t know, but I’m sure someone can set me straight on this. I’m all RailPro so power rail is not something I care to go back to in G Scale.

trainman

Tod;
You still have to isolate at least one rail on the siding, using insulating rail joiners…
Fred Mills

Of course.

I was referring to additional wiring and switches.

Using the 1203, one just has to put an insulator on one rail for a spur (at both ends if its a passing siding), solder a piece of wire to that rail on the spur/siding, solder a piece of wire to the rail just beyond the turnout, and connect these two wires through the 1203.

There is no need for other switches and their supplememental wiring or even thinking about their operation.

At this point, I could get everyone completely upset, and suggest that, with Battery/RC all you have to do is simply bring your locomotive to a halt, and let the other train go by…!!!
…but I won’t… because someone might suggest that I forgot to manually reach over and throw the switch (Turnout) !!!
Humor makes the day go by in a pleasant manner, even in Model Railroading…
Fred Mills

Well Fred, you sorta did suggest, but I won’t tell. :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

True Fred, RailPro has just about taken all the fun out of model railroad wiring. I was so upset with your post I had to get another beer and enjoy running my trains.

trainman

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Yes, but what if you want to let the “system” do this for you automatically without needing to do anything? While easy to do using track power, that get quite a bit more complicated if you want to battery-power the engines.
https://youtu.be/jQ6rcU1Vbwo

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