Hi, My name is Phil Nymark and I’m a newer member. I’m hoping to get some feedback about some issues I’ve had with my large scale stuff. I have an HO and an N scale layout and use an NCE Powercab starter setup for these. I also have a Pro Cab. Last December I bought a large scale Bachmann 3 truck Shay that came with DCC and sound as well as a bunch of track. I bought an NCE SB5 to power it until I can get a PH-10. The SB5 worked well with my powercab until I tried to program the long address/road number into the Shay. I noticed I could not use the “use program track” function as I do in HO and N. Well something weird happened and the Powercab would not respond and didn’t seem to want to talk to the SB5. I switched to the Pro Cab and it worked and I was able to program in “use program track” mode as I would in HO or N. I even re did some sound CV’s that seemed to have been lost in the aftermath. I’m in the shade about a lot of the technical aspects but can often get the job done even if I don’t know exactly how or why. So I was happy with this outcome but would like some insight on what happened if someone could inform me.
My second issue is reverse loops for large scale. I bought two LGB turnouts and a set of LGB reverse track pieces. I set up my SB5 and Pro Cab and made a reverse loop. I connected the reverse track to each end of my turnout and connected them with curved track. On the single side of the turnout I put some long track so the Shay would have someplace to go. I connected the power to the inside of the loop and put the Shay on the single side of the turnout approaching the loop. The green light on the power source, the red light on the SB5 and the display on the Pro Cab all began to flash. No problem I thought, I’ve got a short from some mistake I made. One of the reverse track pieces had an arrow on it so I turned it around thinking I solved the problem. No good-it wouldn’t work. I disconnected everything thinking the SB5 would return to normal but when I plugged it in it still just flashes, the green and the red. I tried resetting it according to the manual but think I must have damaged it and will probably have to send it to NCE on Monday. What’s the best way to run reverse loops in Large scale? I want to do a dogbone mainline in my backyard. I have reverse loops in HO and N with no problems but G scale has a learning curve and I’m on it. The reason I thought I could do it this way is because I inquired from a vendor and was told no other wiring was needed. I obviously missed something and again, any insight would be much appreciated! Thanks-Phil Nymark