Can FasTrack IR and RealTrax ITAD stop & reverse trains?

Here is a post on reversing a 3 position E unit

LINK

There are a lot of ways to reverse a bump and go trolley with 2 loops dead ends, but it takes a bit of electronics. One way is to hook the trolley motor right to the track power (bypass or remove the bridge rectifier inside) ,then run the loop on DC (just add a bridge rectifier off the transformer). Then get 2 reed switches and place them on each end of the line between the rails and glue a magnet to the bottom of the trolley. The magnet closes the reed switch when the trolley passes over it.  Using a dpdt twin coiled latch relay you can reverse the DC polarity and reverse the trolley. Each reed trips one of the coils when the train reaches the end.  Since you have a reverse loop on one end you need 2 reeds with a single coiled latch relay DPDT and a twin coiled latch relay, I think. You can also add a conventional relay and a timer so that the trolley stops for a time at each end or one end with the reverse loop and also anywhere in the middle (wherever you place a reed switch). If you run the trolley at 10-12 VDC you can use the track source to also power the relays. Otherwise you need a separate transformer tap.

Parts are maybe $25 to make up,if you want timed stops. Maybe $10 without stops.

ITADs are more money and less reliable,not that they can not be used.

Dale H

Thanks for your detailed explanation Dale.

I'm not a wiring expert but at least now I know that it can be done and how.  Something for me to work on in the future 

Kevin

In response to your interest in pausing in terminal stations we can say we have the exact same need, but our layout has two terminal stations and two intermediate stations.

At each station we have a stopping-a delay of 5 seconds-and then a leaving of the station.

Our terminal stations reverse the reversing trolleys. We have an additional function with two MTH 30-9107 operating platforms (passengers disappear from their benches or reappear) at the terminal stations. So therefore our circuit is a lot more complicated than yours needs to be.

Here is what we could suggest.....

click on this link:

http://www.agtta.com/Kirk-Rummel/Kirk.html

Awesome.  Thank you also for the great information.

Keven,

Ooops.... just discovered the Figure 1 schematic isn't right.

It has just been corrected.

Here is the link to the page with the corrected schematic:

http://www.agtta.com/Kirk-Rummel/Kirk.html

This likely is not your most economical option, but Z-Stuff offers a board that does what you are asking for.

Dallee also has an assortment of trolley controls designed to work with forward, neutral, reverse electronics.    

Amfleet25124:

I had a similar requirement in a point to point trolley layout in HO: Two end points and two intermediate stations. My first crack at it used an Arduino programed by me that randomly stopped at the intermediate stations for a random amount of time within a set of limits and had random stop intervals at the end points different than the intermediate stations stop intervals. It worked fine but the stop and start were abrupt. So I added two Arduino with my programing to first make the DC operation of the trolleys into digital pulse width modulation and to add acceleration and deceleration to the stopping and starting. It all works!

But this all took about a year of figuring out how to do the programing of these very simple Arduino micro-processor boards. It was a challenge even though I'm an electronic engineer. I am not a programmer but know some programming. Learning C+ was an uphill battle and working within the limit of these simple devices was harder still.

My point: Given enough time, money, and smarts anything is possible in the way of control of these trains. For my O-Gauge layout I just went with MTH DCS TIU and AIU. If I had your problem I would use Proto 3 DCS Trolleys and record a manual series of operations from a starting point. Then whenever I wanted to run the trolley system I'd set the trolley at the starting point and just run the recorded program. The delay at station will be part of the program as well as the stopping and starting acceleration and deceleration if that is the way you ran it manually. The results are repeatable and it may run for some time before you have to intervene and start it over if ever (??).

LDBennett