Polarity of Terminal UniJoiners from the bottomside
This photo shows how the Terminal UniJoiners connect and power each rail. Remember, in a FORWARD power setting the WHITE wire powers the RIGHT rail, and the BLUE wire powers the LEFT rail.
My layout is small enough to power all the mainline, the passing siding, and my industrial spurs from two S-62F feeder tracks, but each track of my staging yards is powered by a pair of Terminal UniJoiners (Kato item 24-818) that can be inserted between any two pieces of track by substituting them for regular UniJoiners. Each pair of Terminal UniJoiners is plugged into an Adapter Cord (Kato item 24-843) which splits into a pair of wires with spade terminals that are screwed onto the top output terminals of an Atlas Twin. Each track of both Westbound and Eastbound staging yards is physically connected but electrically isolated from the other tracks by using plastic Insulated UniJoiners on both ends of each track block. Since each track of the staging yards loops around in a teardrop shape, it is important to identify and maintain the polarity in order to prevent electrical shorts.
In order to first determine the polarity of the Terminal UniJoiners, I inserted them between a pair of straight track pieces I keep on hand for testing purposes. The DC plug can only be attached one way to the Kato UniTrack power pack, but the individual UniJoiners (with their color coded wires) can be inserted any old way between a couple of pieces of track. This could cause a POLARITY PROBLEM if it is not done in a uniform manner among the various tracks, and unfortunately none of the Kato instructions give any advice. To complete the test, I placed an engine on the track, set the power to FORWARD and noted the direction of travel in respect to the wires. In order to propel the engine FORWARD with that power pack setting, the WHITE wire must be attached to the RIGHT rail, and the BLUE wire must be attached to the LEFT rail. I now keep an index card with polarity settings for Terminal UniJoiners and Terminal tracks in a small basket that holds track, electrical odds and ends, and other spec sheets.
Using a 24-843 Adapter Cord from the Kato UniTrack power pack, the WHITE wire goes to the BOTTOM terminal of the input (left) side of the Atlas Twin, and the BLUE wire goes to the TOP input terminal. On the output (top) side of the Atlas Twin, the WHITE wire to each power block goes on the RIGHT terminal, and the BLUE wire goes on the LEFT terminal. There are two pairs of output terminals on the top side of each Atlas Twin, and the right side of one can be connected to the left side of additional Atlas Twins so that one power pack can feed several separate power blocks. Right now I use three Atlas Twins to control 1 Eastbound and 4 Westbound staging tracks, but in the near future, I will use four of them to control 4 Eastbound and 4 Westbound staging tracks. That will enable me to store 8 complete trains in my yards and operate everything that ran between Albuquerque, New Mexico and La Junta, Colorado.
Polarity of Terminal UniJoiners from the bottomside
This photo shows how the Terminal UniJoiners connect and power each rail. Remember, in a FORWARD power setting the WHITE wire powers the RIGHT rail, and the BLUE wire powers the LEFT rail.
My layout is small enough to power all the mainline, the passing siding, and my industrial spurs from two S-62F feeder tracks, but each track of my staging yards is powered by a pair of Terminal UniJoiners (Kato item 24-818) that can be inserted between any two pieces of track by substituting them for regular UniJoiners. Each pair of Terminal UniJoiners is plugged into an Adapter Cord (Kato item 24-843) which splits into a pair of wires with spade terminals that are screwed onto the top output terminals of an Atlas Twin. Each track of both Westbound and Eastbound staging yards is physically connected but electrically isolated from the other tracks by using plastic Insulated UniJoiners on both ends of each track block. Since each track of the staging yards loops around in a teardrop shape, it is important to identify and maintain the polarity in order to prevent electrical shorts.
In order to first determine the polarity of the Terminal UniJoiners, I inserted them between a pair of straight track pieces I keep on hand for testing purposes. The DC plug can only be attached one way to the Kato UniTrack power pack, but the individual UniJoiners (with their color coded wires) can be inserted any old way between a couple of pieces of track. This could cause a POLARITY PROBLEM if it is not done in a uniform manner among the various tracks, and unfortunately none of the Kato instructions give any advice. To complete the test, I placed an engine on the track, set the power to FORWARD and noted the direction of travel in respect to the wires. In order to propel the engine FORWARD with that power pack setting, the WHITE wire must be attached to the RIGHT rail, and the BLUE wire must be attached to the LEFT rail. I now keep an index card with polarity settings for Terminal UniJoiners and Terminal tracks in a small basket that holds track, electrical odds and ends, and other spec sheets.
Using a 24-843 Adapter Cord from the Kato UniTrack power pack, the WHITE wire goes to the BOTTOM terminal of the input (left) side of the Atlas Twin, and the BLUE wire goes to the TOP input terminal. On the output (top) side of the Atlas Twin, the WHITE wire to each power block goes on the RIGHT terminal, and the BLUE wire goes on the LEFT terminal. There are two pairs of output terminals on the top side of each Atlas Twin, and the right side of one can be connected to the left side of additional Atlas Twins so that one power pack can feed several separate power blocks. Right now I use three Atlas Twins to control 1 Eastbound and 4 Westbound staging tracks, but in the near future, I will use four of them to control 4 Eastbound and 4 Westbound staging tracks. That will enable me to store 8 complete trains in my yards and operate everything that ran between Albuquerque, New Mexico and La Junta, Colorado.