# Can I wire up multiple tracks on one controller?



## ATTDCC (May 7, 2020)

So, my grandma's neighbor wants to give me a lop of track with 6 lines, all isolated from each other (No switches, just curved track). I only have 1 extra controller, is it possible to wire up all 6 lines to that one controller? If so, how?


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## Mark VerMurlen (Aug 15, 2015)

Yes, you can hook up multiple lines of track to a single controller/power pack. They should be wired in parallel.

You don’t say if your system is DC or DCC. If your controller or power pack has enough capacity (amps), you could run multiple trains at once. If you’re running DCC, you can individually control each engine. If running DC, all engines will run at the same time according to the voltage on the track.


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## Dennis461 (Jan 5, 2018)

You wrote, "...a lop of track with 6 lines, all isolated from each other ..."
I am not sure what you mean to say.
Is it a single circular loop of track, no siding, no spurs, no turnouts?

And by lines, do you mean to say electrical wires?
You should be able to take a picture and post it for us to see.


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## mesenteria (Oct 29, 2015)

Yes, a single controller will power multiple tracks, even if they are isolated. As Mark stated above, the caveat is that all tracks must have the same wiring polarity if you want the trains to run in the same direction at a time. If you want different directions for running, you must flip polarity to the individual rails. That means DPDT toggles, in series, between the controller's bus output to each track component.

It doesn't matter which wire goes to which rail, as long as each rail is separated, and as long as no wires join other tracks' rails. That is, each of your tracks MUST be fed only by a pair of feeder wires off of a bus. How you reverse the trains is accomplished by a DPDT toggle. If you go by the polarity reversing switch on your DC controller, all trains currently running will reverse their direction. If you use each individual DPDT, you'll get individual trains reversing.

If you are using DCC for control, it's only conflicts in phase that matter, not which wire goes to which rail (polarity in DC). Even then, it doesn't matter which wire goes to which rail because the electrically isolated tracks will not conflict with the others if the wires don't match left to right or right to left. The decoders don't care which way it is, as long as they are not being shorted by wires from other tracks. Decoders don't care what phase is under them, just shorts. That is why automatic reversers work well; they switch phase under the locomotive in milliseconds, which the decoder finds innocuous.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

Since you are posting in the HO forum, it is assumed
that you have a DC power pack and DC locomotives.

As others have stated, yes, you can feed the the 'six
lines' (though I really am not clear what you mean by that
phrase) by your power pack. You would simply
connect wires (this is called a bus) to the two posts on the power pack
marked TRACK. Then you would connect wires from
the rails of the 'six lines' to the bus wires. 

HOWEVER. You should know that you will not have
any individual control of all locomotives on the tracks.
Each will run the same direction and speed as the
others. The 'polarity' (+ and -) of the voltage from the power
pack determines whether loco goes FWD or REV. Unless
you are careful to connect each of the 'lines' the same
as the others, (for example OUTSIDE RAIL always to
RED wire, INSIDE RAIL to BLACK wire) you may find
the locos going in a direction you had not intended. 

To have individual control in the 'six lines' you would
need a complex of wiring and switches and additional
power packs.

Don


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## cid (Jul 3, 2014)

YouTube Channel
If you check out ATTDCC's YT channel, you'll get a better idea of where he's coming from...


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