Hi Blair, I've never heard the term sub-bus, but it's been awhile since I did any track wiring. In my understanding, a dropper connects to the rail. If your bus is close enough, you

Go to electronics stores..relays, resistors , bus bars etc. are much less expensive than RR hobby shop prices. Same goes for styrene plastics .

Sounds like a plan!

Sorry, my response was for a different email. Not sure how I ended up on this one! Tim

Hi Ted For the AR1 Manual, see: https://www.digitrax.com/media/apps/products/autoreversing/ar1/documents/AR1.pdf Regards Marcus

Thx for everyone's input. Tried a different one and it worked! I guess the other one has become faulty and cannot likely be fixed. Would still appreciate hearing from Alan as to how they are

Scott For me, a bus(or sub-bus) connects many feeder wires as one electrical component; feeder wires run from the bus to individual rail segments. Feeders always have one end attached

And I'm with John. Until a good solution comes along - but I also want a reasonable price. You can't compare a bulb with a good circuit breaker. But. The price must be within my budget. And that bulb

Sorry. You said bus wire when I think you mean feeder wire, thus the confusion. Scott Haycock Modeling Tarheel country in the Land of Enchantment

Hi Blair, In my opinion, there can never be too many feeders to any rail. It may seem like a lot more work on paper, but I have found, once you get the rhythm going, it is no big deal. On my layout I

Why is it that no one reads the original post any more? As I said, there is a relay, and a block detector, for one rail of each track. My question was focused on the best wiring of the

I did this exact thing for the exactly the same reason. In doing so, it prevents the command station from seeing a surge in voltage and therefore, a total power shut down. To make the routing of

that was covered by the fact that I'm wiring one rail individually, and switching them when selected.  (i.e. when a turnout is aligned for a track, at either end, the track is energized).

One reason to have each track separately wired would be to prevent all the sound equipped engines in the yard from starting up at the same time when you power up! Scott Haycock Modeling Tarheel

thanks, Steve, for the sanity check.  That's what I thought, but...  So the only reason I might run separate runs is if I want to provide the flexibility to split the yard across two boosters at

Ted, It sounds like your AR1 is not reversing when it should. I think it is adjustable. Try adjusting it. Allan Gartner Wiring for DCC

Maybe swap in a different AR1? It's possible the relay contacts are welded in the unit, and it's unable to properly switch states. Or, the circuit is fried completely, and unable to

What else changed in your system Ted? Maybe new Booster? New Short Detection? (add a PSX-1 or other?) anything? I know for me.. and the HMRC (Housatonic Model Railway Club) layout.. I had a great

Nothing at all to prevent you from using a "common" bus for the other rail on each of those tracks. If you think about it, whether you install a second "block" bus for that other rail or tie them all

Had used a Digitrax AR1 Auto Reverse Controller, prior to upgrading bus to 14 gauge from 16 gauge, on one reversing section and it worked fine. Now it allows locos thru one end of the loop but shorts