I posted my problem 6/7 and got 13 good (mostly) responses with proposed remedies. The one that worked was the nail polish trick – painting a quarter inch of the rails leading into and out of the frog with clear nail polish. It prevents the short and solved the problem! Thanks to Tilden and to Isambard for putting me on to it.
Craft
Good luck! Make sure you keep a supply on hand and let us know how long that lasted before re-application.
I agree…twice. Happy that our friend is at last enjoying some success and peace, but also that this operation will get old quickly. At least, I got tired of the unpleasant reminders that it needed redoing…every time it was the dreaded beeping and shutting down of my DB150 while the locomotive just sat there sprawled over the turnout. So, in case I didn’t answer you in your thread, my advice is to cut a gap in one of the frog rails and perhaps in one of the closure rails just where your lacquer streak ends. Try to cut it so that at least two sets of “spikes” retain the foot of the isolated section of rail…otherwise you’ll have to glue it in place carefully to keep it from being displaced by rolling items atop it.
You’ll never have to paint your turnout again.