I am setting up a simple 2 oval layout using EZ track with a left and right crossover switch. My problem is the inside track is getting power through the crossovers, and I want to use a separate transformer on the inside track.
How do I stop the power from coming through the crossovers without cutting the crossover track?
Insulated rail joiners in both rails in between the switches at the crossovers will do the trick. LHS should have the parts you need and will have several books to introduce you to the concepts you need to understand in order to wire your railroad.
Rusty
See this thread:
http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/board/index.php/topic,2269.0.html
I'm not a savvy railroader so some of the info was over my head.
I went to the thread Joe Satnik suggested and sure enough there was my problem, but I didn't see a solution. Did the guy cut the crossover rails to stop the power from going into the inside track? To me this seems to be a logical solution, but I don't want to ruin the crossover $$$$$
Please advise
In the link Joe Satnik posted for you, "the guy" (me) suggested cutting the rails, then making sure they could not move around and would stay insulated from one another. If at a later date you want the cross-over to be "as was," all you have to do is add a couple of wires under the roadbed to carry the electricity past the gaps. I have not done this on a Bachmann E-Z track crossover because I have never had a need to do so. However, over the years I have cut many gaps in many rails in several different scales, in sectional track, flex track, and hand laid track, switches, crossings, etc. and the principle has always been the same: cut cleanly through the rails then make sure the gaps cannot close up or open up any further.
Jim
Let me add to that if you cut a gap, you can insert a piece of plastic or even a flat toothpick into the gap. This prevents the gap from closing if the rails should expand from heat. Once you've run trains over it a few times, the plug won't be noticeable.