Tim R may be correct. If there are no rail connections between the right and left parts of the crossing X ... Wire tracks A, B and D together with the upper fixed polarity feed tracks from the

Jim, I'm on G-Scale, and wouldn't dream of getting rid of the keep-alives. Worth their weight in gold. A drawback that's not so easy to see is that on track dirty enough to make the keep-alives do

Don, Wise decision - in my opinion. And you know what - operators other than your grandson will appreciate it/depend upon it as well. Because using a DCC auto reverser means that you don't have to

Paul, I agree with you about its being a "band aid" - and I still install keep alives in almost all locos. The locos simply run better in all situations. Properly maintained locos and track is

David; The only place where an AR is needed on this arrangement is on the turntable bridge, and you need something there anyway. I'm not sure how an Atlas turntable is wired, so you may need to gap

Don; I'll soon have a situation similar to yours. A double ended staging yard where one end represents Charlotte for southbound trains, and the other Winston-Salem for northbounds. Both of these

Don W. Have you considered making the storage tracks constant polarity and the mainline (or at least part of it) the AR section? DonV

Tim, Like you, I've never had AR circuits on my railroad. Unlike you, I probably will add some soon. My railroad has a reversing loop that's five blocks long, totaling about 60 feet in length, with

Keep-a-lives are a “Band-Aid” for improperly maintained locos and track. My two cents. 🤪 Paul O On Sunday, May 2, 2021, 12:57:07 PM

Yep to all of that. I use the TCS KA 1s or 2s exclusively because they give me the shortest time. it's still more than I need. When I do an install, I always make sure the client knows what he's

Tom, Yes, they both "work" ... that's the problem. By the time the AR has thrown the turnout (due to detecting the approach of the loco - a short) the keep alive has run the loco far enough to

I inserted images under Photos but also under Files – I can delete one of them later. David G. Penty davidpenty@... (416) 574-4557 ( C ) (519) 855-6961 (R)

Thanks, Blair. Beyond the small ‘Y’ is a very short space and then a double crossover begins which is managed by 2 MRC auto-reversers. But, I’ll put up the diagram, as is, unless you think I

David, You'll have to post the picture to the photos area here. I saw your post on the Digitrax list. You have two options: 1) The stretch from the crossover to the small 'y' could be

Hello all I’m new to the forum and still reading my way through Allan Gartner’s Wiring for DCC documents – excellent material. However, I’m looking for some specific guidance At the end

Hi Jim, Maybe I am misunderstanding what you said. If the Tortoise and AR work without keep-alive devices, they'll work with. The energy storage works for the engine but doesn't have any effect on the

Dale, Your methods are like mine. I make the turnout for a return loop in the same electrical block as the approach. I suspect, since I'm using Tortoises, that having the PSX-AR throw the turnout

Hi JT, Thanks for the note. I hope that helps. DCC is more sensitive to brief power interruptions. A brief DC power interruption might manifest as a small jerk that may go unnoticed. Same with

I use Tortoise contacts for frog polarity and DCC Specialties PSX-AR to control polarity of return loops. I keep the frog polarity completely independent of the return loop polarity and I have never

I always use switch machine contacts to control frog polarity on turnouts and haven't had an issue. On my layout I mostly use Bluepoint machines, but Tortoises work the same way. I also use DPDT