Isolating 'everywhere'

[AndrueC]

I've been wondering if there is merit (or demerit, lol) in isolating every section of track and relying on droppers. I was going to install droppers everywhere anyway and it seems like it might offer a few advantages:

• Might be physically easier to install plastic isolators than metal fishplates. If nothing else I remember from my last layout how often I managed to stab my thumb while trying to install fishplates.
• Would make finding a short easier.
• Would help find any dodgy dropper to bus connections. Also enforces the 'every piece of track has a dropper' philosophy.
• Could be useful in the future if I choose to add block detection.

 

The only places I would use fishplates would be on long curves where track sections are soldered together.

 

I suppose what I'm asking is whether metal fishplates bring anything useful to the party that a plastic isolator doesn't.

Edited February 21, 2022 by AndrueC

[WIMorrison]

a saving on cost for one thing - plastic joiners are expensive and there are very few in the packet (plus plastic ones don't fit as nicely

[Ron Ron Ron]

3 hours ago, AndrueC said:

Would make finding a short easier

 

Not if all the droppers are attached to the same power bus, unless.....

 

.....you have a means of isolating each dropper from the power bus (potentially a lot of work with installing switches or isolating connectors to each dropper)...

 

....or, each individual piece of track is on its own power district or sub-district (in most cases, totally impractical in reality).

 

Isolating each individual piece of track sounds like overkill.

To achieve your objectives, it might be better and more practical to group a small number of track pieces together, to form blocks.

 

 

3 hours ago, AndrueC said:

Could be useful in the future if I choose to add block detection.

 

That could result in plenty of very small blocks, possibly smaller than the length of the trains.

I'm inclined to say, it would be far better to design the length of the blocks with regard to the practical necessities of operating.

 

 

 

.

 

Edited February 21, 2022 by Ron Ron Ron

[AndrueC]

Okay, thanks for that. Good catch on the price difference and the length of a section is also something I hadn't thought about in depth.

[KingEdwardII]

20 hours ago, AndrueC said:

if there is merit (or demerit, lol) in isolating every section of track

I don't know that every section of track should be isolated - that sounds like overkill - but if you want block detection, then you do need to isolate each block, so you would be part-way down that isolation path. Typically, for blocks the feeds to one rail need to go via a detection unit of some kind (e.g. Digikeijs DR4088 and its various siblings), so that use of a "general" bus arrangement is not the approach. However, block sizes may not match the length of a single track section - you typically need the blocks to be larger than your max train length.

 

As for plastic rail joiners - one down side is that they are much less rigid than metal ones and you have to work hard to avoid a kink if joining rails on a curve.

 

Yours, Mike.

[WIMorrison]

May I clarify that when using block detection, you do not need feedbacks to be longer than your train length. There are many occasions when they will be shorter - in fact, I suggest that there are more occasions when the feedbacks will be shorter than the train length than there are occasions where the feedbacks are longer than the train.

[NFWEM57]

19 hours ago, Ron Ron Ron said:

That could result in plenty of very small blocks, possibly smaller than the length of the trains.

Simply connect 2 or more (short) sections of track together via their droppers to form a (long) block..!  I plan to do precisely that on my planned layout where the fiddle yard sections will accommodate 2 or more long trains per track.

The only issue is rail misalignment so it might be best to feed the break in rails through to the next section of track and stagger the breaks; as one does on curves.  Simply in the non scenic areas but no so in scenic areas where a staggered join would very visible. 

 

Patrick  

[NickC]

4 hours ago, KingEdwardII said:

 

As for plastic rail joiners - one down side is that they are much less rigid than metal ones and you have to work hard to avoid a kink if joining rails on a curve.

 

You could try dccconcepts new insulated joiners, they claim to be much more rigid than the Peco ones

https://www.dccconcepts.com/product/ros-legacy-track-insulated-joiners-code-100-oo-pack-of-25/

 

[RobinofLoxley]

Having a dropper on every piece of track makes you future proof for block detection. I have my droppers connected through Waygo connectors to form daisy chains. Very easy to uncouple some for a variety of reasons, including mistakes

 

I have managed to shop around for plastic connectors as I need a lot of them. But however many I buy, they wont reach the cost of a new sound equipped loco.

 

I have found that fishplates that are not original equipment corrode in my loft. Ones that I have teased off setrack pieces are always re-employed. I solder short sections of track to longer ones to reduce fishplate use and to have fewer droppers.

Edited February 22, 2022 by RobinofLoxley