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This page covers Micro Trains Track and electrical modifications
that can be made to various pieces of track to get better performance from it.
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installing LED track direction indicators on power track
from Micro Trains
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uncovering the electrical parts of the Micro Trains Switch
which lie under the switch
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isolating the curved route of the switch so the power is off
in that piece of track when the switch is not set for the curved route
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the same as above only isolating the straight route instead
so the curved route is the main line
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converting the switch to true power routing, there is only
power beyond the switch where the route is selected.
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modifying a pair of switches for a cross over between two
main line loops that are isolated so two trains can be run one on each loop
and when the power is correct you can cross over between the two systems
without shorting both power packs out and smoking an engine on a straight DC
system. See item #1 and place a pair of these one on each main near the
cross over to ensure they are both set in the same direction of travel. This
is useful on DCC only if you are using two power boosters to power your
layout.
The Micro Trains Micro Track system is designed to have power
all over the track system from a single feed point no matter where the switches
are pointing. This mimics the Marklin way of doing things. This feature is
useful but there are times when you want to be able to park an engine on a piece
of track and not have it run off again when you start to run another engine. I
will also show how to isolate the cross over between two main line loops of
track so two trains can be run under DC control with two different power packs
or to provide isolation if two boosters are being used with DCC control. |
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#1.
Showing the direction of the trains on a piece of track which is independent of
a switch
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Show train will
travel to the left |
This the cover of the LED package I used for this project it contains red green
and yellow LEDs and dropping resistors |
This shows the layout of the components. The LED are situated with the white bar
facing to the right in this picture. This is important as the diode is a
directional device and if installed in reverse it will show a direction opposite
to the train direction on the track. |
This picture shows the connection of track power to this piece. Solder wires to
the pads and run them down through the roadbed to your power pack. It does not
matter which is connected to what connection on you transformer as regardless of
the polarity this device shows the correct train direction of travel |
 Shows train will travel to the right |
#2.
This shows the bottom of the switch and how to lift he bottom cover and the
layout of the components found under the cover plate.
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This shows the bottom of the switch. there are five screws of which only four
have to be removed to lift the cover. |
This shows the bottom cover ready to be lifted. Note which four screw are
removed and note where the screw driver blade is used to lift he cover plate on
the left end |
This shows the bottom cover removed |
This shows the component layout of the bottom of the switch.
electrical diagram of switch and power to frog for left and right hand switches |
#3.
We are showing how to use the internal switch for power to the frog to also
control the power to the curved route while leaving the straight through route
unmodified for power to complete loop from one feeder. |
   
This series of three view shows where to cut the jumpers to isolate the curved
route and where to install the jumper to connected the curved route track beyond
the switch frog to the frog for power routing. The brass piece used to connect
to the frog is a piece of 5 thousands brass shim stock. You do not want much
thicker material as you won't be able to replace the bottom cover if you do. I
also kept my solder joint clear of the lug on the frog which holds the screw so
as not to interfere with the fit of the cover plate. The diagram shows the
electrical diagram of what is happening. |
#4.
This is similar to #3 but here we are using he curved route as the main and
isolating the straight through route. |
 
This view shows where to cut the jumpers to isolate the straight route and where
to install the jumper to connected the straight route track beyond the switch
frog to the frog for power routing. The brass piece used to connect to the frog
is a piece of 5 thousands brass shim stock. You do not want much thicker
material as you won't be able to replace the bottom cover if you do. I also kept
my solder joint clear of the lug on the frog which holds the screw so as not to
interfere with the fit of the cover plate. The diagram shows the electrical
diagram of what is happening. |
#5.
Now we are combining the two procedures in #3 & #4 to produce a full power
routing swtich. |
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#6.
modifying the cross over switches so that you do not short one loop with the
other |
All this mod does is connect the short section of track from the frog to the end
of the switch to the wing rail on the opposite switch. This prevents one system
shorting the other out when the switches are connected back to back and both
must be modified as per this picture. This however does not stop you from
shorting the two systems out through the engine on the cross over if you have
not ensured the two main lines are power in the correct direction. That is why
we recommend the indicators in #1 for use with a cross over. Just may save an
engine from going up in smoke. |
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