In a previous video, I introduced you to the concept of reversing loops on a digital model railroad...
A great method for taking a model train that's travelling in one direction on your layout and getting it to turn itself around and travel in the opposite direction.
Normally, building a reversing loop into your layout causes a short-circuit across the two electrical nodes of your train's power supply...
But by using one of these little gadgets, a reversing loop module, it becomes possible to build reversing loops into your layout without causing an electrical short.
(Sound of the train's bell ringing)
(Sound of the train's horn blowing)
I used my Santa Fe "Super Chief" in the first reversing loop video...
and for this second video, which will show how to take reversing loops to the next level...
I'm bringing out my LGB White Pass and Yukon Route railway train.
We're here in my living room and I've set up a very basic layout that just takes the train in a loop around the room.
Pretty simple stuff... And it gets boring after a while because the train just goes round and round in the same direction all the time.
Not very exciting.
I don't know about you, but when I see a layout like this all I can think about is: "What can I do to make this more interesting?"
We've got to spice it up! Add some more track or some switches or something.
So, let's see how to integrate a reversing loop into this layout to spice it up a bit.
If we add a pair of switches and some extra track in the center of our oval layout...
We can make a simple reversing loop that'll allow us to reverse the direction that our train travels.
Notice that the train is travelling counterclockwise in the layout right now.
If I activate one of these switches sending the train through the reversing loop...
When it exits our center section of track and gets back to that big oval it's now travelling clockwise around the layout.
Just remember that to make this work, you need to install one of these LGB double-insulated track sections
at each end of that section of track in the center of the oval to electrically isolate it from the rest of the track.
Otherwise, you'd create a short circuit.
And on one of the two insulated track sections you need to install a digital reversing loop module. That's the key to making all this work.
With this particular layout, once you've reversed the train one time you're a little bit stuck...
Because now, if you want to reverse it back to travelling counterclockwise again you'd have to stop the train...
and back it up through the reversing section of track...
Then stop it again...
Throw the switch so it doesn't just go back through the bypass again...
and then power the train back up in the forward direction.
That's do-able, but a little bit complicated. May I suggest a better way? Add a second reversing loop to the layout.
So, you need two more switches, two more double-insulated track sections, another reversing loop module, and a 90-degree crossover piece, and you're in business.
Now, because my layout has two reversing loops, if my train begins by travelling counterclockwise around the layout...
I can just throw one switch to send the train through one of the reversing loops to get it to travel clockwise through the layout.
And then whenever I'm ready to make it go back to doing the route in the counterclockwise direction...
I just throw another switch to send the train through the second reversing loop.
Once you've mastered how to make reversing loops work...
And remember, the key is putting a double-insulated track section at each end of the reversing loop
and adding a reversing loop module to one of the two insulated track sections...
Then you can start getting very creative with your layouts.
Look at the upper left corner of the layout.
I've added a switch that leads to a spur that heads away from our little oval...
And takes the train down the hallway to the other end of the house.
If I put a reversing loop in one of the bedrooms, it would send the train right back down here to the living room after it looped around the bedroom.
And that way I only need to lay one set of tracks down the hallway.
Now look at the lower right corner of the layout. I've added another switch.
This leads to a spur that sends the train out the doggie door and into our backyard.
The thing I love about not having a permanent train layout here at my house...
Is that each time I set up my model trains, I have the freedom of creating an entirely new layout that's different than the last time I ran my trains.
It's a creative challenge to keep coming up with new and different layouts each and every time I set up my trains.
And it's a bit of a money pit because I keep getting new ideas of how to build it bigger and better...
and that means I'm always buying new switches, more track, and new gizmos. But it sure is an awful lot of fun!
(Sound of a steam train whistle)
I hope I gave you a few ideas in this video... or at least entertained you for a few minutes with views of my LGB White Pass diesel running on the layout.
If you ever want to see the real thing... the REAL White Pass Railway... just book an Alaska cruise that visits the town of Skagway.
In Skagway, you'll have the opportunity to not only see the real White Pass railway, but to ride on it...
On the same historic route that the gold miners took back in the 1800s after gold was discovered in the Yukon Territory of Canada.
I'm Jim Zim. Thanks for watching.
There are nearly 300 videos here on my YouTube channel...
About G-scale model trains...
Some great vacations I've taken on cruise ships...
And about the Cocker Spaniel puppies we used to breed years ago.
I'm going to pop up links to a recommended video in each of those three categories right now.
Just click on whichever one of these interests you.
And do consider subscribing to my channel... so that YouTube knows to recommend my new videos to you whenever I post a new one.