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Offline BwanaJoe  
#1 Posted : 14 April 2015 02:47:23(UTC)
BwanaJoe

United States   
Joined: 10/03/2015(UTC)
Posts: 36
Location: Central Florida
Ok, another dumb newbie question. If I am planning a layout with a shadow station and I wish to have blocks to keep train flowing through without smacking into one another, do I have to have signals? What I'm asking is if I'm using a CS2 and using contact tracks (circuit, whatever) and have everything programmed in are the signals at this point merely decoration?

Now the reason for the question (other than a general how it works) is that I have four older unused signals (7038 and 7949) sitting around. If I don't need to use them for a yard they are going to head to Fleabay.

Thanks,

Joe
Offline Token  
#2 Posted : 14 April 2015 05:05:48(UTC)
Token

Australia   
Joined: 25/01/2009(UTC)
Posts: 300
Location: Sydney, NSW
Hi Joe, I used relays in conjunction with s88 to achieve automation in my shadow stations. If you wanted to maintain manual control, you can add a k83 (or replace k83 and relay with k84). My entire layout was controlled by the track diagram control board on my CS2 as demonstrated by the example below;

CS2 Track Diagram Control

You can see the middle return track dotted with circles until it reaches signal 39. These 'dots' function as feedback lights, indicating the progress of trains - quite effective in tracking them in hidden areas of the layout while providing the triggering function to isolate other tracks if set up to do so. No signals required.

I'm sure there are a great number of other methods but I did find this easy to set up and quite reliable.

Regards,

Michael.
Offline BwanaJoe  
#3 Posted : 02 July 2015 05:06:16(UTC)
BwanaJoe

United States   
Joined: 10/03/2015(UTC)
Posts: 36
Location: Central Florida
Sorry I'm getting back to this rather late (life happens) but I want to ensure I understand this properly. I technically don't need the signals themselves in the shadow yard. The feedback modules and CS2 programming will take care of what I need?

Thanks,

JB
Offline Token  
#4 Posted : 03 July 2015 09:44:02(UTC)
Token

Australia   
Joined: 25/01/2009(UTC)
Posts: 300
Location: Sydney, NSW
It depends how confident you are with programming. It may be that you install a couple of relay switches to turn power on and off at each section of the shadow station as insurance (given you cannot be sure what is going on under there other than what you can see on the CS2 display.

The relays essentially act as the signals do without the fancy dress. Wire the relay to a k83 or use a k84 (which is a relay and decoder in one) to control power on/off from the CS2.

Have a careful read of clapcotts diagram (refer picture with a single k83) for a shuttle set up. The principle is the same - particularly is you are looking at an automated function.

Shuttle Train

You can then happily eBay to your hearts content!

Anyone can jump in here with advice - this is just drawn from my experience and I am by no means an expert.

Regards,

Michael.
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