As I have mentioned elsewhere, I have recently gotten involved with Gauge 1 by getting a couple of analog locomotives and other necessary items.

While I plan to run the locomotives in analog mode, I am wondering whether I could operate the track power and the switches digitally with K83 and K84 boxes just like I am doing in H0. This makes most sense if I can also get feedbacks working, however.

I am familiar with contact tracks and switch tracks of H0, but these don't exist in Gauge 1. So, here comes my newbie question: What are the alternative ways to get feedback in Gauge 1? What are their pros and cons in practice?

In particular, in H0 I am using CAN Digital Bahn products to hook up contact tracks with Rocrail running on my laptop. There is a CAN Digital product called StromSniffer that seems more or less suited for Gauge 1, although the documentation is not explicit on this. If someone has experience on this particular approach, I would be more than pleased to hear from it!

Thanks for the reply, Markus!

I am nevertheless reluctant to adopt Märklin approach for this use: if I want to use 60882, I would also need a CS3 and other bits and pieces from Märklin Digital architecture. That would be an overinvestment for my modest goal.

Reed contacts are interesting, and I will probably experiment with them - they are relatively inexpensive. Thanks for the tip!

I will also investigate the CAN Digital approach further.

Edited by user 09 January 2020 14:06:13(UTC)  | Reason: Typo fix.

LGB once made contact switches. They were reed contact inside a plastic fitting that snapped between the rails. They were weather proof with screw terminals. They weren't cheap but they were rugged. I don't know if they still make them.

Roger

Technically is Maerklin Gauge 1 the same as Trix from Maerklin, which is a 2 L DC system. Only the power feeding connection is designed for the needed higher power consumption. H0 = 3 A, Gauge 1 = 5 A. E.g. for all brands and gauges of Maerklin you can use a CS 3 or CS 3+. Only the power supply has to be different. One provides 3 A the other one 5 A.

Starting a CS 3 or CS 3 plus from Maerklin digital, a screen appears showing all three brand logos from Maerklin, LGB and Trix.