wiring on off switches on a traverser

[Ighten]

My fiddle yard is a sliding 4 track traverser and I have taken one positive feed from the exit line of the layout to the positive  line of the fiddle yard)and soldered them... Then from here I have run this on with soldered wires to supply the same matching positive line on each of the other 3 (ie one line of every track is always powered).. My plan is to wire the other tracks in the same way but so that only one line is ever powered at a time (in the traverser) I want to control the power with on off togggle switches with built in LEDs..

 

So I assume I take the feed from the exit line through a switch and then on too the next switch etc.. But here Im stuck.. the switches have power/acc/and ground solder points???? Help

 

My guess is that two come from the accessories 12v (But why is one called ground) and one is the power feed from/to the track  I want to turn on and off but I could be way off so thought I should check first....

Edited September 1, 2021 by Ighten

[Nigelcliffe]

( Personally I'd want a traverser to set its power automatically on the road aligned with the layout, but, you asked for switches...)

 

Its not "dead simple" to arrange a cascade of switches so that only one of them is "on" and all the other are "off".  (there are ways, but they feel very messy in operation to me).     

It would be a lot simpler to use single multiple position switch, such as a rotary switch (about £1 from electronics suppliers).    Those typically come as 1, 2, 3, 4 or 6 poles, with the number of positions being set with a small tab-washer when assembled (thus can have a 2-pole switch with only four positions, rather than the maximum of six).  

 

A 2-pole switch or a 3-pole switch (don't use one) would do the job.   One pole to select which track is live.  The second pole to select which LED to light.  

 

 

 

 

[AMJ]

The alternative is to use the alignment pin as the electrical connection to the selected track.

[Jeremy Cumberland]

I agree with Nigelcliffe.

 

The switches you have are a type of single pole changover (SPDT = single pole double throw) and are designed for steady 12 volt DC circuits, not for model railways. The thing being switched ("acc" = accessory) is connected to "power" when on and "ground" when off. Whether you are using DC or DCC, it is likely that the LED either won't work or won't work as expected. There is no obvious way of wiring them to ensure that only one track is powered.

 

If you really want to use these switches, connect the "negative" from your exit line to the "power" terminal on one switch, then connect this to the "power" terminal on each of the other switches, going from one switch to the next. Then connect the "acc" terminal of each switch to the "negative" rail of the corresponding traverser road. If you really want to see what the LED does, then connect the "positive" feed to "ground" on one of the switches and see what happens. Conceivably with DCC it might work (and I don't think it will break anything, but no guarantees - the switches aren't designed for this), but with DC it will only work in one direction, and then only when you have power applied.

 

[Ighten]

Thanks.. nigelcliffe. Think that's a solution for me..