Sorry  for asking so many questions but I have no-one else to ask....

1/    I have been gifted some 2mm plasticard......what is the best way of cutting it (both straight lines and curves)?

2/    My layout is, at the moment, a single DC loop....... I am considering adding a second loop..ie 2 loops/2 controllers....Is it possible to have some arrangement whereby locos can cross from one loop to the other with out the controllers getting in contact with each other???   if so, how please.

Thanks  Roger

Hi Roger,

My backscene is made of 3 sections of 2mm plastic, joined in the back corners by sections of 50mm (with 2mm thick walls) pc pipe



After cutting the pipe with a saw, I found it made too much plastic sawdust.

When I moved onto trying to cut the sheet I found a scalpel  blade was too flimsy, but a sharp stanley blade with a steel rule did the job fine. Lots of light passes was better than trying to cut all the way through in one go.

I cut the curves with a series of straight cuts and sanded any points smooth rather than trying to cut a curve.

Hope this helps 

All best wishes

Kevin

Hi
I'd pretty much agree with Kevin (Phoenix) re plasticard.
You can use scissors to cut it but getting a straight line is difficult with scissors (a steel rule and sharp blade are better).
I use the same method as Phoenix for curves but here I do use scissors to get a rough shape then use sandpaper and files to smooth it off.
I'm no electrical wizard so I'll let someone else comment on your second query.

Martin

1) Cut plasticard using a sharp craft knife or scalpel.  Use a steel rule for straight lines, and try and find a suitable curved template for cutting round curves , for example the bottom of a paint tin or a plate (depends what radius curve you need of course). You'll find you don't have to cut all the way through, about half way is enough and then you can then bend the plasticard  along the join and snap it apart.

2) Yes you can have two track ovals and connect them with a pair of points to form a crossover. You must fit plastic isolating joiners (IRJs for short) between the two points to electrically isolate the two circuits.   When you want to drive a loco from one circuit to the other you simply set both controllers to the same direction and speed and the loco will run across with no problem.

Thanks again for the help everyone...it is appreciated...

Quote
Yes you can have two track ovals and connect them with a pair of points to form a crossover. You must fit plastic isolating joiners (IRJs for short) between the two points to electrically isolate the two circuits.   When you want to drive a loco from one circuit to the other you simply set both controllers to the same direction and speed and the loco will run across with no problem.

I,m still working that out   !!

Thanks to all.

Roger

Quote from: brookleigh on December 18, 2019, 10:51:51 AM
Thanks again for the help everyone...it is appreciated...

Quote
Yes you can have two track ovals and connect them with a pair of points to form a crossover. You must fit plastic isolating joiners (IRJs for short) between the two points to electrically isolate the two circuits.   When you want to drive a loco from one circuit to the other you simply set both controllers to the same direction and speed and the loco will run across with no problem.

I,m still working that out   !!

Rest assured, it does work - however, with one caveat.

Some steam loco models have split pickups where one rail is picked up from the loco and the other from the tender. Those will stall crossing the join because they are trying to pick up power feed from one controller but the return from the other and have no continuous connection, so will need a little encouragement from the giant finger in the sky to nudge them until they can pick up at both ends from the one controller.
Such examples of which I'm aware are some old Peco locos and Union Mills ones.

Quote from: chrism on December 18, 2019, 11:09:45 AM

Some steam loco models have split pickups where one rail is picked up from the loco and the other from the tender. Those will stall crossing the join because they are trying to pick up power feed from one controller but the return from the other and have no continuous connection....

Yes that is true. The Peco Jubilee and UM locos definitely. Not sure about the Peco Collett? I have a couple of old Rivarossi continental locos with the same arrangement, which I believe is often called the "american pickup system" as it is/was common in model trains in the US.

To be honest the "better" electrical solution for a DC layout is to wire for "Cab Control".  This is where all the track is split into electrical sections, and each section is fed via a changeover switch which can swap between the different controllers.  Thus you can drive a loco seamlessly anywhere on the layout by switching all the track for that route to the same controller.  This is how I wire my layouts.

Quote from: ntpntpntp on December 18, 2019, 11:30:27 AM
Yes that is true. The Peco Jubilee and UM locos definitely.

Hehe, you guessed how I knew that 

QuoteTo be honest the "better" electrical solution for a DC layout is to wire for "Cab Control".  This is where all the track is split into electrical sections, and each section is fed via a changeover switch which can swap between the different controllers.  Thus you can drive a loco seamlessly anywhere on the layout by switching all the track for that route to the same controller.  This is how I wire my layouts.

Me too - especially since some of my sections, being on different layouts joined by link boards, have joins too far away for a giant finger in the sky to reach