I have been trying to figure this out on my own doing lots of searches on the web for my answer … but im coming up short of an answer. So what i’m asking is. How do i wire a switch for two rail wiring. On the track that i already have layed ive used the two rail wiring style (running two feeder whires from the bus to the track . One for each rail… But as most model railroads go track plans change. im adding a siding to my simple track plan but i do not know how to wire a switch for two rail wiring (or know how to wire a switch at all "the right way ") All I was able to find on the web was about common rial wiring but i was just planning on having a track to run one train though scenery so i didn’t put any blocks . But if some one understands my rambling … any help would be greatly appreciated … Thanks guys Adam…
This should be simple. You have two rails, and you have two terminals on your power pack. Call one Black and the other one Red. Designate one rail as Black, and the other as red, and connect the wires to the layout in several places on all three sides of the switch. It should work. Now if there is a poor connection within the switch or a poor rail joiner it should still work.
No matter how complicated your layout gets you still have a BLACK rail and a RED rail in relationship to your power pack. Trace the rails with your finger Start on the red rail, and move your finger along the layout, If in any place you find your finger touching the BLACK rail, then you have a reversing loop and need to isolate it with insulated rail joiners and with a switch or relay to control the polarity of that section that is causing the reversing loop to happen.
More complicated I can get, but this is enough for now.
ROAR
How you wire the switch depends on what’s beyond the switch. If both diverging routes are dead-end spurs, all you need do is to wire one outside rail to red and the other outside rail to black on the switch. Which ever way you throw it, the power will be routed correctly.
If there are other switches beyond the switch, then things get more complicated. If the frogs are all facing the same direction, then you can wire simply as above.
If the switches beyond the first have frogs that are turned the other way, facing the first one, then there need to be gaps cut in between the two switches. Otherwise, when one is thrown to send power, it might face the opposite polarity coming from the other switch, resulting in a short.
All of this above is without the frog/inside rails being wired. You can rely on the points or other power routing built into the switch to send power that way, but it’s more reliable if you power the frog. Some switches have this feature built-in (in which case the frog is powered internally), while most simply rely on the contact of the points and require you to supply a means to change frog polarity/power.
In any case, if you do power the frog, then it needs to switch polarity when the points move. Otherwise, it would create a short, as the frog needs to be “-” when the points are one way and as a “+” when the other way. However you do this, then a third wire to conduct the power from it will be attached to the switch at the frog.
That’s the “short” version, but I highly recommend getting a basic layout wiring book, where the illustrations help explain things better than words can often do.
Are you asking how to wire the power to the rails for your siding or are you asking about the wiring to the switch / turnout machine?
As your layout becomes more complex, your wiring needs will follow suit. I suggest you pick up a copy of Easy Model Railroad Wiring**, by Andy Sperandeo. It’s a real lifesaver.**