Wiring a portable layout for DCC what kind of connectors would you recommend for transferring power between boards

[Nigelcliffe]

How do you plan to join the baseboards physically together?

 

I use hinges with the pins removed, the bus wires are connected to the hinges, hence when I connect the boards together and put in the hinge pins, the bus is connected together.

 

Job Done

 

No loose wires, no connectors to wear out, nothing extra to think about.

 

 

We use something similar on the Suffolk/Norfolk P4 layout. We have cabinet dowels for board alignment, hinges with pins for locking it all together. As we're using Scalefour track, we need high accuracy mechanical alignment to ensure the trains run well over the joints.

 

 

If just wanting a couple of wires over a join, we use the hinges as the current path. If a lot, then we have 25-way D-type connectors carefully fitted to the end faces of the baseboard such that the cabinet dowels align things before the 25-way pins close home. Thus, as soon as boards are plugged together, we have a 25-way connection made in the same hit - no plugs/sockets to deal with afterwards.

 

 

 

- Nigel