James River Branch: Power and Wiring

Power Supply and Wiring

Like the aborted version of the layout that came before, the James River Branch was intended to be entirely battery-operated. Unlike the previous attempt, the trackwork is now a single, unbroken "block." Previously I had intended to compensate for the up- and down-grades by isolating each section of track and providing slightly different voltages to them so as to keep the train running at a constant rate of speed.

But as I came to learn when the trains ran briefly on the old layout, there was no need to compensate for the grades; the trains ran at a consistent speed regardless of the grades. This was confirmed on 6 January 2008 when the new layout had its maiden run. And so, this time around I soldered every section of track together, and attached two pairs of feeder wires, one each at the midpoint of each helix.

Given that there's no "operation" as such on the layout (just continuous "roundy round" running), I have no throttle! A bank of D cells provides power for the trains—along with everything else—and I just tap into the battery bank to find the right voltage for the train. A double-pole double-throw center-off toggle switch delivers the power to the rails, and that's the extent of my train control. It doesn't get much simpler!

Banks of D cells provide power for trains and lighting effects.

Feeder wires are soldered to the track on each of the hidden helixes.

Wires pass from one end of the layout to the other through a wiring channel.