I am running MTH PS3 equipped locomotives in DCC mode on Lionel Fastrack. I want to set up a wye.
How do I insulate the lionel fastrack rails correctly?
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should not be necessary on three rail just on two rail as the center is always the center rail
The reason why I am asking, is that I had a problem on a figure 8 using a 90 degree crossing. Everytime the locomotive crossed the 90 degree crossing it would cause a short circuit. the Locomotive would stop, then once the DCC command station reset, it would start up and run again until it reached the 90 degree crossing again.
i have trouble with fastrack and dcc also i use mine mor on s gauge but have o gauge to. Switches give the the most problem in 0 are your swithches command switches are manual
My switches are manual.
I think I may not need to use an auto reverse unit for a three rail track wye.
i don’t have the wye switch yet so I’m trying to learn more about 3 rail.
i know exactly what to do on 2 rail.
You may need to insulate each rail at the beginning of each wye and disconnect all the tabs under the track to prevent crossover of the outside rails. Then you could wire as any dc circuit using 2rail. This is only a suggestion as thinking of the H.O. days. Good luck
mbates1566 posted:The reason why I am asking, is that I had a problem on a figure 8 using a 90 degree crossing. Every time the locomotive crossed the 90 degree crossing it would cause a short circuit. the Locomotive would stop, then once the DCC command station reset, it would start up and run again until it reached the 90 degree crossing again.
I have a couple of MTH Real Trax crossings (90° and 45°). Their factory jumper wire work was less than stellar on both. I went in and corrected it more to my liking before I used the crossings. I may not have had a short circuit right away, but I'll bet either one of them wasn't too far away from shorting out had I not fixed them properly.
Might want to check your Lionel crossing jumper wires in the same fashion (I assume Lionel crossings have jumper wires of some sort).
The FasTrack 90 crossing doesn't have wire jumpers, it has all metal plates connecting everything. If wired correctly for 3 rail you shouldn't get a short. You have the positive to the center rail and the negative to the outside rails? Have you tried running the locomotives conventionally? If it still trips the transformer breakers when run conventionally, I'd say there is something wrong with the locomotives or track itself.
Well I went out and bought the wye switch and the needed track. I connected it all and found that there is no need for insulation or using an automatic reverse unit. It all works perfectly fine. My locomotives are MTH running in DCC mode. No problems at all. 
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whos dcc are you using and how many amp system i thing i need to go to a 8 or 10 amp system
Mbates, that’s great to know. We learn something every day.
I use DigiTrax for everything. I run 8 amp power supplies for N and HO scale,
20 amp power supply for O and G scale.
I only run MTH locomotives on 3 rail Lionel Fastrack in O scale.
All of my other scales are 2 rail.
With 3 rail track, you should not have to do anything special for a wye or reversing loop. That is one advantage to 3 rail.
i use digitrax zephyr on s gauge it does good mbates how i have tried it on mth 0 have trouble with it on fastrack probaly needs more amps. did you do anything extra to fastrack switches like a choke
mbates1566 posted:I use DigiTrax for everything. I run 8 amp power supplies for N and HO scale,
20 amp power supply for O and G scale.
I only run MTH locomotives on 3 rail Lionel Fastrack in O scale.
All of my other scales are 2 rail.
Are you using one dcs100/200 to power the track?
