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1) Opposite polarity portals cannot be used at the same time. For example, if one engine is entering or exiting a south portal at the same time another is entering or exiting the north portal of another reverse section, there will be a short circuit and trains will stop. No damage will be done, but you'll have to push the engines off the gaps manually to correct the problem, and maybe reset the ARSC with a flip.

This restriction only limits the use of opposite polarity portals at the same time. Once a loco lashup is completely within the reverse Section, other locos may enter or exit any portal at will. Or, one engine can enter or exit one south portal, for example, at the same time another engine is entering or exiting a different south portal. They just can't use opposite polarity portals at the same time.

This is not a restriction only with the ARSC. This restriction applies to all reverse sections that are wired together, no matter how they're controlled.

2) Loy's ARSC is limited to a little more than 3 amps at 15 volts, so you should limit the number of trains in the reverse sections controlled by one ARSC to 3 amps or less. If you might need to have more trains in multiple reverse sections than that, you should split the reverse sections up into multiple ARSCs.

This should be of concern only to the larger scales, unless you have a large number of reverse sections where lots of engines and/or lighted cars will be on them at the same time.

3) Distance has to be considered. 20 AWG wire is adequate for one HO-scale, or smaller, reverse section. But when controlling two or more reverse section with one controller, you must use larger wire to connect them all together. Otherwise, there could be too much resistance in the wire and keep the reverse section controller from recognizing a loco. The example shown here has the two reverse sections close together so it doesn't require wire much larger than normal. But if the two reverse sections are further apart you should use wire suitable for that distance, such as 14 AWG for 20 to 35 feet.

For clarity, we have left the connection drawings out, in favor of just numbering the connection points - connect all 1s to pin 1, etc.

First, you can see that the two mainlines are wired in parallel. There is no polarity problem with a crossover. But, since each of these sections reverses the direction of the loco, each is a reverse section.

There is one little twist on this wiring that you need to understand. It's sort of like the extra north portal on the previous (reverse section expansion) scenario. But this one shows it in a way that may make you wonder about it.

Start with the reverse section on the right. You can lay it out and number it just like an ordinary simply reverse section, with all the same rules, hints, and tips. But notice that the reverse section on the left starts out with pin one on the right rail of the south portal. This is the point you need to understand.

It really doesn't matter whether you start with the right or left rail, so long as you follow through with the proper pattern - either left - right - right - left - and so on, or right - left - left - right - and so on. In the case of this example, we have one reverse section with the left - right sequence, and the other with the right - left sequence. Why?

The ARSC has only two power inputs, 5 and 6. These pins have to be in the proper sequence the same as all the rest. Since 5 and 6 have already been established by the first reverse section, you can't reverse them so the other reverse section can start out on the left rail. Notice that pin #1 is on the same side of the track as pin 5. So, if you already have pin 5 set to one rail or the other, simply start the numbering sequence on that side.