RMweb Gold sjp23480 Posted January 9, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 9, 2020 My layout comprises two circuits (up and down mainlines) and a separate branch entering a station on the up side, each with their own controller. There are sidings on the up and down sides and a turntable on the down side. Potential movements: Down trains could cross the up line and into the branch platform/sidings Up trains could cross the down line to sidings or run into the branch platform Branch trains would need to run across both the up and down lines to the sidings and turntable I would like to complete these movements on one controller, so in the final example I would like the branch controller to run the train through the complete sequence. If it were just two controllers I presume I could use a DPDT switch to provide power to the relevant sections. But need some guidance on how to introduce the third controller. Any guidance would be gratefully received. Many thanks Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharris Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 A 3-way 2-pole rotary switch? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dungrange Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 A rotary switch is the way in which all of our club layouts are wired for such scenarios. Usually we have layouts wired for four controllers. I think they usually come with 12 terminals on each rotary switch, so 3-way 4-pole or 4-way 3-pole versions are probably the most useful. The spare poles can be left unconnected or used for interlocking. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Michael Edge Posted January 10, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 10, 2020 There are much easier ways of doing this than a clunky arrangement of rotary switches. All you need to be able to do is to link one section to the others, leaving all the other controllers off while you do it. The actual junction bit can be what we usually have as a "black section" - linked by switches on the point motors to whichever route is selected. There's an explanation of this in my Wentworth Junction layout thread. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium kevinlms Posted January 10, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted January 10, 2020 24 minutes ago, Michael Edge said: There are much easier ways of doing this than a clunky arrangement of rotary switches. All you need to be able to do is to link one section to the others, leaving all the other controllers off while you do it. The actual junction bit can be what we usually have as a "black section" - linked by switches on the point motors to whichever route is selected. There's an explanation of this in my Wentworth Junction layout thread. Agreed, much easier because the sections are quite short and cannot in practice be used on their own. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cliff park Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 There are plenty of 2 pole 3 way slide switches, quite cheap. They have the advantage of being able to see at a glance which controller the road is set to. The advantage of rotary or slide switches is that you can never accidentally switch to 2 controllers at once. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold sjp23480 Posted January 10, 2020 Author RMweb Gold Share Posted January 10, 2020 Thank you everyone for your replies, I need to make this as simple as possible, electrics are not my thing (obviously!). Will take a look at each of these options to determine the best solution. Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
PSi Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 On 10/01/2020 at 10:15, Michael Edge said: -- There's an explanation of this in my Wentworth Junction layout thread. A link -- please ? pekka Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dungrange Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 6 minutes ago, PSi said: A link -- please ? pekka Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Michael Edge Posted February 3, 2020 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 3, 2020 Thanks Dungrange, I really should find out how to do this... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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