I would like to have my main yard controllable by both a standard control panel by the yard master when a group is running with the yard disconnected from loconet (e.g. no one but the yardmaster can control those switches). When I am running alone or with a small group of people we can control the switches with our DT400's. I would like to use a single DPDT switch to accomplish this. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Off the top of my head, I don't remember what the six wires in the LocoNet cable are. However, I would assume that if you are using DS-54's for turnout control, you could use the DPDT to remove signals from 2 of the wires to the DS-54's that cover the yard area. You would have to make sure that all the subject DS-54's are on a 'T' from the LocoNet and not part of a daisy-chain or you will lose LocoNet messages downstream from the DPDT. David
David: I was thinking about using terminal strips, so I could isolate the wires as needed. would this work?
David: I was thinking about using terminal strips, so I could isolate the wires as needed. would this work?
I am not sure what you mean by 'planning to use terminal strips.' Terminal strips are a nice feature to split up wires. I did a little more research. If you use DS-54 stationary decoders for you yard, don't worry about the LocoNet cables. The DS-54 gets its commands from the Rail A & Rail B power inputs. The LocoNet connection on the board able only used to send information over the LocoNet FROM the board not TO the board. If the board will operate from Auxilary Power only, then you could just use your DPDT switch to break the Rail A & Rail B connections to the DS-54. You will have to test this or ask someone else to do this for you. If it will work from Aux Pwr only, then a local panel push button could still operate the turnouts. David
