# Bachmann E-Z Track System Auto Reversing System 44547



## jlassen (Dec 5, 2013)

First... My apologies if these details are well known. I did a bit of research before buying this, but there didn't seem to be any detailed analysis of how this worked, or how it could be used as part of a larger, non "auto-reverse EZ track" system. Here's the thing I'm talking about.

To start... I'm a newbie who wants to create an end to end ceiling shelf run. My research suggested this Bachman Auto reverse system was the easiest way to accomplish this, and common sense suggested there MUST be some way to hack together this system with the non auto-reversing EZ track, (or any other track system) to create a really LONG run point to point run, and possibly have switch or cross over with a couple of different "End" points.

So I crossed my fingers and bought the basic system... Instructions were useless in determining its hack-ableness. to sum up:

Each track that comes with it has each end labeled either with a simple "a" or "b" and the instructions state.... "B" always goes into b. A always goes into A. keep that in mind, and lay it out our pieces however you want. If you want to add more track you have to use our auto reversing EZ track.​
Basically, the Start point and end point tracks are labeled B on the side where the train stops (ie... put your bumpers into the ends labeled "b" because the engine stops moving in the middle of this track) , and A on the side where the train will come from, or reverse back to. So all the middle pieces have to be "A" on both sides... The expensive auto reverse track, either straight or curved, make up "The Middle" pieces.

I put it together and ran a short bit of it on my mantle.
Here's a clip of my engine running back and forth

The wiring under the ez track is covered by some light plastic shielding that comes right off. I've taken pictures of all the parts that matter, to give you a sense of how this system is wired up.

First All the pieces That Matter:








the end piece, a middle piece, and the start piece

Here's a close up of the start piece.









Power from auto Reversing power/throttle comes in on a miniplug. 4 wires coming out of that as follows:
White and Orange to the North and South Rail, respectively. I am assuming this is what powers the track

Green: Green Goes into the "North" track... This point seems to be where the train stops/reverses when POWERED engine crosses it. When an Un-powered car crosses this point, nothing happens.

Blue: Blue is wired to BOTH of the prongs on the A side... Two separate under track output joints... but its the same wire going to both.

Middle piece close up:








North under wire connection prong on Right is wired to North Under wire connection prong on the left. Same for the south. So... basically... 

the current/power from the blue wire at the start is passed throw the middle tracks. on two separate wires... there is no connection that I can see to either of the rails or from north prongs to south prongs.

End Piece:








Both incoming wires on the north and south prong are wired together, and sent to the South Rail. It is at this point that the train stops/reverses when the powered wheel hits it.

Some thoughts: 
The middle track wiring is entirely redundant... Its a safe and foolproof way to ensure the blue wire gets sent all the way to the end track, creating the stopping point.

From a hackability standpoint, you could leave all those middle tracks unwired (IE regular EZ track), as long as you ran a single wire from one of the A side prongs on the Start piece, to the a side prong on the end piece. Alternately, the blue wire can be run to whatever end piece track you want, as long as its soldered to the opposite rail that the green wire is soldered to.

Are there any flaws to my logic here? My plan is to run a long wire under/along side the track, and the splice it back into one or both of the input prongs on the "end" piece.

Additionally, I could have a switch or crossover. and as long as the switch or cross was crossed over (rail was hot) I could have a 2nd end piece on a different spur... Just splice that blue wire off to this second end piece, and make sure it is in the "south or "opposite" side of the track from the start piece's green wire. Does this seem reasonable as well? 

If I really wanted to get crazy, I could run a lead from the green wire to a second "Start" piece, as long as I kept it wired on the same side as the other start piece's green wire. So two tracks running parellell, for example, with a cross over (or double cross over) in the middle. As long as the cross over kept the south rail only touch the south, and the north rail touching the north... each line could have and end point, and a start point, and I could throw the switch and the train could travel from one side to the other without missing a beat, stopping and reversing at each end point. Right?


Okay, The details of what is happening exceed my grasp of the electronics but... basically... When a powered engine hits one of the end points... either the blue wire spot on the south side, or the green wire spot on the north side, a short is caused? Somehow? The "smart" power supply powers down for however long the "trolly stop" is supposed to last, than kicks back on with the polarity reversed.

Since this system is using its OWN power supply, and the auto reversing logic is in that supply/throttle/controller, I think this pretty much rules out using this system with a dcc based system.... unless you could send your DCC systems power into the EZ track transformer, instead of the wall transformer. Which might be possible, I don't know what a DCC powered output looks like, compared to a steady transformed input from the wall. If anybody wants picks of the AC to DC brick, and the power input into the throttle, let me know.

I hope this was helpful to anybody out there who wonders exactly what this Bachman unit is doing, and what all that special Auto Reversing track wiring is, and does, and just how easy it would be to integrate it into a Point to point layout. I'm happy to post more pics or discus and try various permutations of this auto reversing system. 

If my assumptions are right, this is in fact, a very good solution for a keep it simple, stupid End to end layout, even if you are not using EZ Track, or their expensive auto reverse ez track. Connect or solder, per above, to whatever track system you want.


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## kix662003 (Mar 8, 2013)

Thanks. You saved me some time as I prepare to permanently modify and attach my Bachmann streetcar on our Christmas town display board.


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## jlassen (Dec 5, 2013)

Glad I could be helpful. I knew I couldn't be the only one looking at that system and thinking "I wonder if..."


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

J

There are a couple other threads here on the Forum related to
this Bachmann product. These were using a streetcar going
back and forth, but any DC locomotive could be used.

You are correct. This system is not compatible with DCC
locomotives or the DCC system.

DCC uses a form of AC to the track that is always on. Decoders in the
locomotives take digital commands that determine locomotive
direction and speed. This Bachmann system reverses DC
polarity in the track to cause the locomotive to go forward
or backward.

Don


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## JraOTinP (2 mo ago)

Thank you for posting this information! I recently purchased a used # 25009 Christmas Street Car Set that was missing the "wall wart" power unit. After purchasing one, I cannot get the the system to work properly, the trolley will go in only one direction and stop at the other end and not reverse. I have till Christmas eve to figure this out


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## prrfan (Dec 19, 2014)

JraOTinP said:


> Thank you for posting this information! I recently purchased a used # 25009 Christmas Street Car Set that was missing the "wall wart" power unit. After purchasing one, I cannot get the the system to work properly, the trolley will go in only one direction and stop at the other end and not reverse. I have till Christmas eve to figure this out


This thread is nine years old. All the members except DonR are long gone. It’s good to check the date of the post (seen at top next to the post #) before responding on a thread.
Probably best to start a new thread on this. 
I use a different auto-reverse system so unfortunately I can’t help with Bachmann.


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