I Be Seein' Track!

Well, it took a while and there's more to go yet but the first track (and only loop) is installed. All of it has been glued except the section in front of the Albany yard as I may need to remove it for work I need to do behnd it. While there are push pins in the picture, that section is now nailed and ready to run. Track feeders were soldered in the middle of each full length of track. These were then inserted into WAGO connectors. The main power bus (12AWG) was routed around the layout and cut at the WAGO locations. As I usually was connecting 3 track lengths at at time, I didn't have to cut the bus too many times.

All eight turnouts on the track are wired, tested, and operate using DS74s and DSCP1 pushbuttons with LEDs. Most of the remaining turnouts will be controlled with NCE Switch8s or Switch-Its with pushbuttons and LEDs.

Next in the process is the installation of the Loconet. It will connect my DCS100 with the 2 DS74s and a UR92 so I can control the switches with a pushbutton or by throttle command. It will also allow me to operate wireless.

One of the unknowns is whether I will need a snubber for the bus. The bus is about 60 feet in total length so the issue of a harmonic is possible. If I need to I can add a short length of bus wire to the last WAGO and connect a snubber to that.

I'm having the outlets under the layout upgraded to 20A circuits each. They were 2 of 7 on a single 15A circuit. This will avoid any issue of running out of power (I certainly hope so!).

Once the Loconet is installed, it's time to start up the system. If all goes well, I'll run an engine around to make sure everything still works. I'm expecting to do all of this during the remainder of this week. Stay tuned!