Hi folks
I know these questions have been asked many times in this forum. I’ve done much research so hopefully won’t be wasting anyone’s time but it takes forever to get things delivered and I want to make sure I’ve got what I need…
I run an analog layout but I’ve ordered the first insider model of 2021 - the E44.5 and as I have an analog layout I know would be limited to basic functions.
I’m thinking of moving from analog to digital.
At the moment my layoutLink to my layout has one transformer for the upper level and another for the hidden station. They are isolated by the central tab. There is a third transformer to power lighting.

If I went digital I can see several ways to go:
1 Buy a mobile station 60657
Digital track connection box 60116
Switched mode power pack 60043
or
2 Buy a digital starter pack 29000
or
3 Buy a digital starter set e.g. 29074 (I’m running eras III and IV)
or
4 Buy a CS3

So some questions:
I imagine I could only run the top level of my layout with one mobile station as the two levels are isolated from one another.

Or could I get the red and brown cables from the two levels that currently go to two separate transformers and join them at the mobile station to control both levels.

Or should I get 2 mobile stations to run the two levels separately?

Or would a CS3 be a better way to go for future although I can’t see my layout getting bigger any time soon?

And to check - To switch from analog to digital mode is it simply a case of taking the existing wires controlling track current (red and brown) and attaching them to the digital outlets of the mobile station? I don’t have the track that contains radio suppressant which I know interferes with the digital system.
Many thanks in advance for your thoughts,
John

Thanks Tom,
Because of the track configuration I can really only run two or three trains at a time so it sounds as though the MS2 will be the best option. I will be starting with only one (the Insider model when it finally arrives) and build the collection slowly.
Regards,
John

If you have older steamers with sound and smoke and light bulbs, running three locos at full speed is already edgy. Interior lights can further reduce this.
Five locos with sound, LEDs, and without smoke should be possible.

Take nothing for granted, try how far you can go with the rolling stock you have.

Thanks for this. I would like to automate routes down the track but for the moment will be content with the ms2

I would agree with Tom, et al, that for your layout an ms2 would be the way to go. Just remember that later on you could get a second ms2 to plug into the track box, and with some jiggery pokery additional ms2s can also be used (up to 10 are possible I believe) but you get no additional power from the track box.

However there are ways to use an old Delta control box as a booster, which may be a viable option for you as the layout is already split into two separately controlled sections, if you have problems with the maximum current available from the ms2 track box. But this is an option that can be explored later if need be.

I don't think that getting a 29000 set is useful unless you can use the R2 curves that come in it. I would go with option one unless you have a specific desire for the items in a start set which will again provide a dose of track.

It has slider-switch over and should not bridge two blocks with its two sliders.
Even a single slider can bridge two blocks if no centre-rail rocker is used, but that should not damage the transformer. The transformer should have a tube for overload protection that resets automatically. Later cheap power supplies had resistors that simply burnt out on overload.

I used Delta boosters for a while. I didn't use centre-rail rockers between the circuits powered by the Delta Controls and didn't have any defects.

I would get the Marklin book as said above. This will show the advantages of the CS3 and what it can do. You would need a power pack with it.

Hello Sid

The important part about digital for a layout such as yours is that you should have no isolator blocks anywhere in your layout (*except signal stopping blocks) and you should run the whole system as one integrated circuit. Eliminate the concept of separate controls for separate sections of track. With the Mobile Station and/or Central Station, you will be able to control any train on any part of the layout.

Furthermore, you can usually connect 2 x Mobile Stations into one track connector box, so that 2 x people can operate a layout together.
Or, if using a Central Station, you can plug a Mobile Station into the Central Station and have two controllers operating the layout.

A little information about Automation :
If you want to run an automated layout, where signals change and trains stop and go, switch tracks, etc, then you need to plan for this at the layout construction stage.
You will need to insert circuit tracks or contact tracks at strategic locations around the layout, develop a system of block control with isolators separating sections of the layout for feedback purposes (ie feeding back whether a section of track is occupied by a train or not), and you will need a Central Station 2 or 3 to get most value out of automation.
If you are using a Mobile Station, then you would be able to do some limited automation by have circuit tracks/contact tracks connected directly to M83 or M84 to switch signals and turnouts, but then this is done with physical hardware and you won't have the added benefit of software for complex automation which the CS provides (for example, if this condition, then do that function .., or delay timing ..., or repeat sequences, etc)

PS >> I took a look at your layout construction thread topic and I really like the way in which you developed the staging yard and above ground scenes.

Regards
John

Operating in analog mode, your signals probably cut the power to a section of track where you want the train to stop and when you change the signal to red.
In digital mode, you can leave it like this. It will have the same effect in digital mode as it currently has in analog mode.



Yes, that will work, and it will be an easy solution.

One more explanatory note about digital :
You can operate your trains in digital mode and still keep your signals and turnouts operated by the switch box in analog mode from your old analog transformer.
BUT make sure that you have no connections ANYWHERE on the live side where you connect digital wires to analog wires (the center track red wires)
It's actually ok to connect the electrical ground side between digital mode and analog mode, but I would avoid it if possible.
(for example, if you wanted to run electric trains from overhead catenary in analog mode and steam trains with slider in digital mode)

At some stage in the future, you can upgrade your signal and turnouts to digital operation by purchasing the very useful M83 box.
Then you will be able to switch the signals and turnouts from your Mobile Station.

It is also worth remembering that you can connect M-track 5146 Circuit tracks to automatically switch signals and turnouts.
Many of the early Märklin automated layouts did exactly that, in order to run trains in an automated layout, and that was long before digital.

Regards
John

Well it's been over two years since I asked these questions.
In the meantime I've moved my controls to a different part of the layout which took a long time, but it's all working fine now in analog mode.

I got myself a Digital Starter Set 2900 with MS2 and some track. That all works fine. However, when I finally hooked up my upper level to digital the MS 2 constantly switches back to STOP mode after a few seconds.
The engines are recognised by the MS2 and start to move but then the STOP comes on. I can turn the STOP off and the Loc moves again but only for a few seconds until the STOP comes on again.
I'm guessing that it doesn't like something in my setup.
All I've done is connect the red wire from the track box to the power circuit of my upper level and the brown to earth. I've not turned on the transformers at all (even the one controlling lights).

Then I've disconnected the MS2 from my layout and reconnected it to my test track and it's working fine in that scenario.

So my guess is that the STOP light comes on because there is some kind of short on the layout but my layout is working fine in analog mode.

Any suggestions on where to look?

Capacitors block DC but allow AC to pass. The capacitors in the feeder track are designed for 50 or 60 Hz. With the frequency of the MS2 (about 8000 Hz) they absorb a lot of energy, leading the MS2 to detect an overload once or twice per minute.

Thanks for the suggestion Tom. So then do I remove the capacitors from the feeder tracks?

Thanks Tom! It wasn't much fun tracking down those feeder tracks. There were six in total but I hadn't put them where I had indicated on my original track plan. Also 4 of them were deeply embedded into scenery and one was in a tunnel.
The end result is that I had checked 5 of the feeder tracks and found 2 capacitors. My test train now ran for about 40 seconds before the STOP came on so I knew I was making progress. From underneath the layout I could see where the wires for the last feeder track emerged but after careful measuring I found that it was not directly under the track but under some scenery. It took a while to find the exact track and it was firmly embedded in the scenery.

That guy with the wheelbarrow got quite a shock. It was an effort to dig out the track but success - 1 more capacitor found.

So three capacitors in total!
Now a test run has been successful and the STOP function doesn't come on unless I activate it.
So thanks to the Forum (especially Tom) for solving this for me. There's a bit of work to be done now in repairing scenery and checking the alignment of the track but I hope to show some videos of my digital loks running soon (including a newly arrived Scotsman...)
Cheers from a newly minted digital convert