# Please help figure out the wiring in this control box?



## jargonlet (Dec 21, 2011)

I have had trains my entire life in many scales but when I was growing up my great grandfather who raised me had an n scale layout. During the 50's he ran his own tv and radio repair shop and was a wiring and electronics expert. I'm not sure when his shop shutdown but it was before I was born. In the early 1980's he built a 4x4 N scale layout. I think he built it partially for me and also to be a replacement of sorts for the prewar Lionel layout he had in his attic years before at a previous residence. Both layouts and most of the rolling stock are long gone but I still have the control box and a little bit of the n scale rolling stock. Unfortunately all of the Lionel stuff was gone before I was born.

What I understand and remember: The layout was two mainlines, two sidings and a bridge in the middle setup kind of like a passing siding of sorts. The controller was originally outfitted with two Bachmann power units and later upgraded to a Tech II Duel Model about the time DCC came about. I remember using the control box and I can remember the functionality of it. The top row of switches is for the turnouts. The lower row was the power to the tracks in blocks. To the right is the master power and the on/off for the lights and accessories. On the side of the unit there is a reset for the whole box and a fuse.

What I don't understand: I understand how the switches and LED's are wired up but I don't understand why there are Atlas switch machines mounted in the control box. He used the Atlas turnouts with the top mounted machines. Are they un-powered? That would make sense why they are in there or is there some other reason. They are wired into the circuit. It has been about 15 years or more since the layout has existed but if I remember right there were more than 4 turnouts on the layout. Could he have powered more than one turnout off of each switch? 
Why is there a big transformer in the control box? Is this to power the accessories? I don’t remember if the original controllers were used to run accessories. The transformer says: SEC 12.6V 3 Amp. Also if I remember right and it has been about 15 years since the layout has existed but I think that there were more than 4 turnouts. Could he have powered more than one off of each switch?


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## alman (Oct 22, 2012)

jargonlet said:


> I have had trains my entire life in many scales but when I was growing up my great grandfather who raised me had an n scale layout. During the 50's he ran his own tv and radio repair shop and was a wiring and electronics expert. I'm not sure when his shop shutdown but it was before I was born. In the early 1980's he built a 4x4 N scale layout. I think he built it partially for me and also to be a replacement of sorts for the prewar Lionel layout he had in his attic years before at a previous residence. Both layouts and most of the rolling stock are long gone but I still have the control box and a little bit of the n scale rolling stock. Unfortunately all of the Lionel stuff was gone before I was born.
> 
> What I understand and remember: The layout was two mainlines, two sidings and a bridge in the middle setup kind of like a passing siding of sorts. The controller was originally outfitted with two Bachmann power units and later upgraded to a Tech II Duel Model about the time DCC came about. I remember using the control box and I can remember the functionality of it. The top row of switches is for the turnouts. The lower row was the power to the tracks in blocks. To the right is the master power and the on/off for the lights and accessories. On the side of the unit there is a reset for the whole box and a fuse.
> 
> ...





 Without a schematic I would try to draw it out step by step, and rewire it.

Long, tedious job!

Like I said


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

I gotta' go with the previous suggestion. I'd start over with the wiring, it'll take you longer to try to figure out what's there than to just do it over.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

I can give you a few pointers. It has a power supply so you have to determine the voltage and if it is AC or DC.

AT first glance it look s like a switch board for lights. The LEDs indicating the actual towers on the track. It repeats four times. So four systems exist you only need to figure out one. The others are duplicates, so it looks complex but isn't. 

The atlas switches are acting as a flip flop circuit and must alternate a light from red to green. There are four of them. So find one system and draw it out. The switches are numbered too.

The more parts there are the greater the chance it operates switches too.
It almost reminds me of the signal tower I lighted.


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