Live Steam And DCC; a crossing issue.

[AUSLNER]

I have a layout where two tracks swap over each other via two diamond crossings. apart from that they never come in contact with each other. i want to convert one to allow me to run my live steam. is it possible to run a live steam engine over one part

of a diamond crossing and a DCC engine over the other?

[poliss]

Inadvisable. It's possible that the wheels could touch both tracks at the same time. It's also possible that if there's a derailment on the crossing that both circuits could be shorted.

[Brightstar]

Hi AUSLNER

Have you thought about insulating the crossing, on the Live steam section, this way the live steam locomotive will travel through the crosssing without any power being needed, as residual steam in the boiler will drive it through the

crossing.

You woould need to link the power connections on either side of the LS part of the layout.

I am building an exhibition layout that requires locomotives to pass from an upline to a preheating line via a downline. All points are totally

isolated from the power supply and the locomotives travel safely through the points and slips without any power being available and I do not need to worry about the two main lines being of opposite polarity.

One suggestion was this would not work as

the voltage drop unlatches the regulator relay in the locomotive and activates the "stepper motor". This is not a problem as the "stepper motor" needs power to work and none is available, so the locomotive does not speed up or slow down while it is travelling

through the unpowered slips or points. The unpowered slips and points sections on the layout are over three foot long and do not cause any problems.

You would need to ensure that the rails on the LS side of the Crossing do not receive any power and

are totally isolated by cutting the track. I am using isolating track joiners to connect the crossing to the powered tracks. Also the joints between the track do not have any track joiners as power is provided by the buss wires. I do use metal joiners between

sections of track on curves but these are only used to keep the rails aligned as the plastic insulated joiners as too soft and flexible.