Are gaps necessary in a runaround or passing siding?
I have Walthers shinohara DCC friendly turnouts code 83 HO.
Bruce in the Peg
No, but I put them in and put the siding track on a DPDT switch and use it as a place to park one of my DC engines when not in use.
Art, does this mean that you can also use that siding as a program track?
BB
Yes, but that takes one more DPDT switch to regulate between the two wire sets from the DCC. I have my prgram track on another siding. As long as you didn’t lose track of all the switches, it should work fine. If you found a DPDT center off switch you could do it all with one.
There is nothing different about good MRR wiring practices in DCC vs. DC. If a gap is needed at a switch in DC, it is needed in DCC, to prevent a short.
Check out Andy Sperandeo’s book on MRR wiring from Kalmbach. He will show you the common places in a layout where gaps are needed.
In general, you need gaps at both frog rails for MOST switches. The only exception that comes to mind is the PECO Insulfrog switch, which already has a plastic filler piece at the point of the frog, effectively providing the needed gap.