# Two Unitrack Ovals



## usmiladim (Dec 14, 2020)

Hello
Is it possible to run two ( one inside the other ) Kato N scale Unitrack Ovals with one power supply and a three way splitter for power track?
Thank you


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## Steve Rothstein (Jan 1, 2021)

I am very new at this, but the problem I would see is controlling the trains separately. My first layout, completed in December, is two ovals with a siding on each. Since I used the Kato master track and variation packs, I had a power pack for each while I was running DC. If you ran them off one pack, you would only have one throttle.

I have since switched that layout to DCC, which was part of the original plan. I used a Digitrax Zephyr to do this and ran both ovals from the one power pack. This lets me control the trains independetly. I went this route to get started because I had planned on using the two original DC power packs as jump throttles for my granddaughters to control trains. This works well and we are running three trains at once on the two ovals.

Hopefully someone with more expereince can give you a better answer than what I did. Since I had started with that very setup, I thought what I did might help you.


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## Wooky_Choo_Bacca (Nov 13, 2020)

What Steve said

While you could run trains on separate tracks, you could even have them going in opposite directions if you switch over the feed wires on one loop but the "problem" would be one speed for both trains, one stops they both stop. I too took the jump to DCC and with my new layout I'm working on I have, for all intents and purposes, 3 1/2 loops, 2 being the double "express track" and one that goes around the outside with a spur loop inside (the 1/2 loop). We don't know your particular situation and you may not have it in the budget just yet but DCC is worth researching, it's what I did


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## usmiladim (Dec 14, 2020)

Steve Rothstein said:


> I am very new at this, but the problem I would see is controlling the trains separately. My first layout, completed in December, is two ovals with a siding on each. Since I used the Kato master track and variation packs, I had a power pack for each while I was running DC. If you ran them off one pack, you would only have one throttle.
> 
> I have since switched that layout to DCC, which was part of the original plan. I used a Digitrax Zephyr to do this and ran both ovals from the one power pack. This lets me control the trains independetly. I went this route to get started because I had planned on using the two original DC power packs as jump throttles for my granddaughters to control trains. This works well and we are running three trains at once on the two ovals.
> 
> Hopefully someone with more expereince can give you a better answer than what I did. Since I had started with that very setup, I thought what I did might help you.


Thank you Steve


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

A second power supply would be a small investment, and would allow separate speed control on the 2 ovals.....


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## usmiladim (Dec 14, 2020)

Old_Hobo said:


> A second power supply would be a small investment, and would allow separate speed control on the 2 ovals.....


Thank you Sir


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## BigEd (Oct 28, 2014)

usmiladim said:


> Hello
> Is it possible to run two ( one inside the other ) Kato N scale Unitrack Ovals with one power supply and a three way splitter for power track?
> Thank you


The answer is YES, you can. 

I have a double track dog bone layout and have done exactly that. I mostly run DCC, but because I have lots of older DC locomotives I will never DCC I have put in a simple DPDT switch between DC and DCC. Now I can run my 60's Minitrix without fear. Yes, it causes the trains to run the same direction (mostly - some run the other way for some reason). I have heard that some guys in the UK change the magnets in the locos around to change the direction - never tried that myself. 

I have a crossover scissor by Kato and with careful planning I can actually change lanes using DC! I might have gotten it wrong too but that all just hearsay...


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

BigEd said:


> The answer is YES, you can.
> 
> I have a double track dog bone layout and have done exactly that. I mostly run DCC, but because I have lots of older DC locomotives I will never DCC I have put in a simple DPDT switch between DC and DCC. Now I can run my 60's Minitrix without fear. Yes, it causes the trains to run the same direction (mostly - some run the other way for some reason). I have heard that some guys in the UK change the magnets in the locos around to change the direction - never tried that myself.
> 
> I have a crossover scissor by Kato and with careful planning I can actually change lanes using DC! I might have gotten it wrong too but that all just hearsay...


 BigEd;

An easier way to change the direction of a DC locomotive is to swap the wires soldered to the two motor brushes. On some models the entire motor is reversible. In these models the motor sits in a cavity of the frame, and the electrically split frame feeds power to the motor brushes. Many early Bachmann locos used this system. If you pull the motor out of the frame and don't mark which way is supposed to be up, it's a 50/50 chance you'll put it back in upside down, which reverses the direction of travel. Flipping the motor will get it running in the other direction.

Traction Fan 🙂


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## BigEd (Oct 28, 2014)

Sounds like a lot of work...just too lazy....😇


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