I have what at first may seem like an easy question to answer but I don’t think its as easy as it first appears.
I have a number of Peco Electrofrog turnouts that I want to use on my new layout but I only want to use them on stub end sidings like industry sidings so I don’t have to go through all the hassle of special wiring and gapping that is required with electrofrogs. Since electrofrogs are designed to be used for selective routing, if I use one on an industry siding and I throw the switch so the points direct the train into the siding, will power be killed to the rest of the layout? I know this sounds like a dumb questions but its got me thinking. Or if I just add a set of feeders to the main line on either side of the turnout, would that solve the issue?
As far as I know, not having used them, electrofrogs differentiate from others only in that the frog gets power according to the line set by the points. I am sure the frog is still isolated from the rest of the turnout…or if it isn’t, then you do need gaps at both exits past the frog…so that when you line for diversion onto the siding, the through track gets power only to the end of the turnout. That means the gap you leave just after the through route ends on the turnout will prevent a short from happening on the main beyond…which you will have to hard wire for power.
I use Kato Unitrack number 4’s for my yard. These are power routing and only allow power to the yard track being used at the moment. I find it convient especially with shorts.
It sounds like one leg of the turnout is to a siding and the other is to a main line. If the mainline is in a loop and there are no gaps then when the turnout is directed into the siding it will short the main and effectively kill power to the rest of the layout. If the main line is not in a loop (and there are no feeders in it from that point forward) then all power on the main from that turnout on will go dead if it is switched to the siding. If both the legs of the turnout are stub end then there is no problem at all. The rest of the layout will continue working like normal, and only the stub siding that the turnout is pointing to will have power.
No, that alone would not work. With electrofrogs, the more feeders there are the more gaps are needed. A gap is needed anytime power can feed into the turnout from the diverging track(s). If power is only coming through from the point side of the turnout, no gaps are needed. You would need to put feeders on the mainline on both sides of the turnout PLUS cutting a gap on the frog side rail of the main between the feeder and the frog. No gap will be needed on the siding.
Bottom line, in general except for totally stub end situations, if one is going to use electrofog turnouts, gaps will be needed.
No gaps are needed for a stub ended siding with electrofrog. The only time you need gaps with electrofrogs is when you have 2 frog ends facing each other and when there are power feeds to both frog rails.
If you don’t want to rely on the turnout for power, you can cut in a gap and install a drop to the siding (and a switch if you want to turn it on and off - of course this would defeat the power routing).
I see it as: more like augmenting or adding insurance to the power routing since I hear that it doesn’t work well for long without jumpers or some other mechanical improvement/alteration. I agree that the power routing should obviate feeding the diverging stub, but I read of so many modelers who urge jumpering and adding switches that it would seem to be an answer to a potential problem.
Your ‘ELECTROFROG’ turnouts will turn on stub-ended tracks when thrown. So do INSULFROGS, but they are are what’s recommended for DCC use.
I believe BOTH will need insulated rail joiners on the inside mainline frog-rail for passing sidings to prevent shorts (see below) - DG
PECOs design is considered ‘power routing’ (Power is routed with the throw). Only the FROG is insulated with the INSUFROG, and internal jumpers shunt power the rails.
No ‘gapping’ should be necessary if you use 'Insulated Rail Joiners. The alternative to the above is to use a different brand where tracks are always powered - regardless of the throw.
Thanks for all the info guys, but now I’m even more confused. One message says if its a stub end siding no gaps are needed. But another message says even if its stub end gaps are still needed. I guess the best way to find out is set something up on the test bench and try it and see what happens. If I let the smoke out of the decoder on an engine then I know I have it set up wrong.
I promise you that you do not need a gap on the stub end siding provided there are no separate feeders to the stub end track. Power will be routed as you desire in this configuration.
You may or may not need a gap or insulated rail joiner in the frog rail of the main branch. Chances are you do, because chances are there is a way for a feeder to reach that turnout frog from the frog side without the gap. Once you put in the gap and feeder on the frog side, the turnout no longer power routes beyond the gap.
Wiring of power-routing turnouts - the default configuration of a Peco ElectroFrog - is covered in a book on wiring sold by Kalmbach.
That is correct (like fwright says), but only if there are no electrical feeders to that stub end siding. The poster that stated gaps were needed probably talked about feeders somewhere else in the message.
This might be a matter of making a mountain out of a mole hill. It isn’t really difficult especially if one looks at the color diagrams on that one web site that was mentioned.
All DCC systems have short circuit protection. If a decoder goes up in smoke it will not be because the track around a turnout is wired wrong.