Single Stops for 2-Rail

Single Stops for Two-Rail

These two-rail applications employ the cut rails principle but only require the cuts to be made in one rail to make it work. All of the cuts and links have been made in the positive rail but these could be made to the negative rail instead and the automatic stops will still work. These applications are NOT suitable for use with DCC control.

The trams are shown as two axles and the positive rail and powered wheels are coloured red, the negative rail and wheels are coloured blue and unpowered rails and wheels are coloured black. It is advisable to add a switched feed from the controller to the automatic stop CD, so it can be made live if needed.

Automatic Tram Stops

When Mark Bliss decided that he wanted to build an 'N' gauge tramway with automatic tram stops we discussed the possibility of a two-rail automatic stop using the cut rails method.

We came to the conclusion that it may work if bogie trams, like the Bachmann Brill and PCC, were used, and that it deserved further investigation.

After building a small test track, Mark discovered that the trigger section AB needed to be slightly shorter than the distance between the inner axles, the stop section CD needed to be long enough for the tram to stop and an electrical link was required between the two.

This was followed by the construction of a small oval layout with two automatic stops which ran three trams all day at a local Model Railway Exhibition.

You will need to experiment to find the best space between the trigger section AB and the stop CD, as the greater the distance between, the longer the time between tram 1 departing from and tram 2 arriving at the stop.

Single Stop

Figure 1 works because the trams have all-wheel pick-ups and a space between the axles, so tram 1 passes the trigger section AB because one axle is always on powered rail but it stops when it gets to the longer unpowered stop CD.

Tram 2 links the live rail to the unpowered rail of the trigger section AB which in turn is linked by a wire to the stop section CD making it live, causing tram 1 to move off, the stop is unpowered again when tram 2 arrives.

Automatic 90° Crossing

Figure 2 shows that when Tram 1 reaches the stop section at CD it waits until Tram 2 has passed over the crossing and reached the trigger section at AB.

The stop section CD must be long enough for the tram to stop and the trigger section AB must be just shorter than the distance between the axles on a four wheel tram or the inner axles on a bogie tram.

The positions of AB and CD should be far enough away from the crossing to give adequate clearance for the trams being used.

Automatic Fiddle Yard

In 2013 Mark Casson proved that the 2-Rail Automatic Tram Stop works with 4-wheel trams.

Mark wanted to automate the fiddle yard on his 00 scale Grime Street tramway to make it easier to manage at exhibitions.

This explanation should help if you want to run two-rail wired trams with automatic stops as an addition to your railway. If you have any questions about automatic tram stops, please use the Contact page and your question will be answered.