Wiring Module One - The Basics

It seems to me, that if there's one thing most model railroaders don't enjoy, it's wiring! I'm no exception, although I have to admit to feeling a certain amount of satisfaction when you flick that switch and electricity goes to the right place!

To date, wiring the module has been the most lengthy, and complicated task I have undertaken so far. It still isn't finished and is probably a good 6 to 8 weeks for being so. As I mentioned in a previous post, the Cricket World Cup has started and that has most of my attention at the moment.

I am going to break this post into two parts. This part will cover off the basic steps I followed and the the second post will cover off the switch motors and control panel, which was the most labor intensive of the two stages.

I read an enormous amount about DCC and the correct way to wire; so I tried my best to follow the guidelines suggested by others. First of all I am going to admit to a cardinal sin. I did not solder all of my track joints. I am going to simply justify it by saying I am not a sadist and couldn't think of anything worse. Yes it may cause me problems down the line, but I tried to mitigate the decision by soldering way more feeder wires than necessary.

Feeder wires, if I am correct, are the key to DCC success. The more of those going to the track the better. The rule of thumb is one per track section, and while I didn't quite go to that extreme, mainly because of the amount of sectional track I used (thanks Atlas), I have made sure that there are plenty of feeders nonetheless. My module has some 36 pairs of feeders, I think it will be more than ample. I have been running trains for a few weeks and so far no problems.

I also decided that all of my turnouts would have their frogs wired also, so that's another 8 pairs of feeders for those. I'll detail that a little more in my next post.

The pictures below shows the wiring (unfinished) under the module, there's a bit of tidy up needed, but hopefully you get the gist. The homemade bus bars (just terminal blocks with jumpers across them) worked as well as I could have hoped and I avoided the ridiculous expense of proper bus bars! My multi-meter and I have spent numerous hours on the floor checking every connection and thankfully (and to my surprise) they all worked!

Under table Wiring

DCC Panel and Switch Panel Wiring

As my layout is designed to be relatively easy to move, there are simple plugs which connect the various wiring between modules. One connection for track bus, one for turnout power and another for lighting.

As of yet I have yet to wire in any lighting supply, but I intend on getting that provisioned for soon. All lighting will be LEDs and will be run from a seperate 5v power supply, which should be big enough to power half of the entire layout. While I don't intend on installing lighting just yet, I figure it's better to have it ready to go than try and mess about doing it when the layout is more or less complete; the less time spent on the floor the better and I couldn't think of a bigger disaster than banging my head and dislodging half of my layout!

On another note; I purchased an F3A Kato Loco from eBay, which supposedly came with a factory installed decoder. Unfortunately I was sent the wrong model. The seller offered me a partial refund which I used to buy a Digitrax DCC board and I spend a frustrating couple of hours trying to install it. Eventually I succeeded, but it will be the last time I ever do that! The instructions were simple enough, but boy was it fiddly. In future I will make sure any Loco I buy comes with the DCC board installed already.

Laying Track

After many, many months of planning and building bench-work the first section of track has been laid on the Southern and Central. It's been an expensive month! I don't even want to total up what I have spent, but it's well over $500! Eek....shhhh, don't tell the Mrs.

The section in question is the main line leading into the (as yet unnamed) lower deck terminal. Due to the issues surrounding Atlas and their supply of code 55 flex track, I have been forced to use sectional track for now, which actually hasn't been the biggest problem in the world, though I do wish I was using Peco code 55 since it is available in large supply from nearly everywhere. Much of the track I have managed to get my hands on has come from the US; thanks to Ebay and NZ Post's excellent US post forwarding service that they offer.

Track and track-bed is secured using white glue, with pushpins used to temporarily hold the sections in place as you can see in the pictures below. Once dry the push pins are removed the track is nice and secure. In the past I have used track pins, but to be honest I found them more trouble than they are worth, and inevitable I end up make a fist of it. Glue is a little more permanent, but then I am not planning on moving anything (hopefully).

Track glued and held in position with pushpins.

I am wiring for DCC, which I will be controlling using an NCE Powercab (again, thanks Ebay, effectively half the price it would have cost me had I bought it in NZ).

I love the walk-around controller, and the face plate which I can easily plug it into! I will definitely get some more panels for the other modules. Because the controller is not hard wired, when I am not using it, it can be safely secured, an added bonus. I will eventually pick up a pocket that it will sit in and attach it to the fascia.

The uncovered holes on the fascias will ultimately be covered by small control panels for turnout control; I am going to use aluminium or acrylic panels and micro switches. I will detail that further when I install my first turnout mechanism, which is probably going to be a cobalt switch machine, since they come from Australia and are a damn site cheaper than tortoise. I am still mulling over whether I will use the DCC versions or just the standard versions. It doesn't seem practical to control these from the powercab, so the DCC version just seems like overkill to me, but for an extra $3 it seems a shame to not use those instead.

Desk fits snugly under module! Note the holes in the fascia.

My next post will detail the wiring process a little more, since by then my trains will be here and running! How exciting...