Hello everyone, first time posting here. I am fairly new (6 months) to the hobby. I currently have 2 trainsets: Bachmann's Rail Chief and an MTH R21 subway set (4 cars). I built my track layout as shown here:
This layout is an extension of the well-known layout consisting of an oval superimposed with a figure-8 reverse loop. In order to avoid shorting out the layout, I've isolated the crossover (green) from the main line (gray), so right now trains can only run on the main line. I'm using the DC controller that came with the Rail Chief set, and run one train at a time (either the locomotive or the powered subway car is removed from the track, and any unused non-powered cars are parked inside the crossover). I recently got Bachmann's auto-reverse module (#44912), which according to some sources "eliminates the complicated wiring previously needed to operate analog (DC) reverse-loop track layouts" (https://www.walthers.com/automatic-reversing-loop-module-e-z-command), despite being labelled DCC. The wires that came with it have plastic connectors on both ends, designed to connect to track #44597 which I don't have. So instead I tried connecting the module to some unused wires that originally came with the turnouts:
I connected the turnout at the main line to the Input end of the module, and connected the Output end to the crossover, but that didn't work (the indicator light on the module switched on, but the train would still stop at the end of the turnout).
My main questions are:
1) Can module #44912 be used on a DC layout, and if so, how should it be connected to my layout (since my layout consists of a double crossover, I would need more than one of those, but I started with one for now to make sure it would actually work)?
2) If I would need to switch to a DCC system (which would be better because I could control both trains independently), how would I assign which train is controlled by which button on the controller (#1, #2, etc)? The MTH subway set is specified as DCC-ready, but I'm not sure if the Rail Chief set is DCC-compatible.
This layout is an extension of the well-known layout consisting of an oval superimposed with a figure-8 reverse loop. In order to avoid shorting out the layout, I've isolated the crossover (green) from the main line (gray), so right now trains can only run on the main line. I'm using the DC controller that came with the Rail Chief set, and run one train at a time (either the locomotive or the powered subway car is removed from the track, and any unused non-powered cars are parked inside the crossover). I recently got Bachmann's auto-reverse module (#44912), which according to some sources "eliminates the complicated wiring previously needed to operate analog (DC) reverse-loop track layouts" (https://www.walthers.com/automatic-reversing-loop-module-e-z-command), despite being labelled DCC. The wires that came with it have plastic connectors on both ends, designed to connect to track #44597 which I don't have. So instead I tried connecting the module to some unused wires that originally came with the turnouts:
I connected the turnout at the main line to the Input end of the module, and connected the Output end to the crossover, but that didn't work (the indicator light on the module switched on, but the train would still stop at the end of the turnout).
My main questions are:
1) Can module #44912 be used on a DC layout, and if so, how should it be connected to my layout (since my layout consists of a double crossover, I would need more than one of those, but I started with one for now to make sure it would actually work)?
2) If I would need to switch to a DCC system (which would be better because I could control both trains independently), how would I assign which train is controlled by which button on the controller (#1, #2, etc)? The MTH subway set is specified as DCC-ready, but I'm not sure if the Rail Chief set is DCC-compatible.