Perhaps this is a “no-brainer”; there is something that I am not getting. I recently re-did some trackwork. Everything, electrically, was okay. I then installed two PECO turnouts with “electrified” frogs. Now, it seems that my entire layout is short circuited (I successfully connected the output leads to a separate isolated piece of track - no problem). So, before I get into rewiring my layout, is there something that I don’t know about combining insulated/electrified-frog turnouts? Pardon me for being dumb about this.
The insulfrog are drop in turnouts. The electrofrog need insulated joiners at the frog rails while installing them.
Pete
Thanks Pete… After I removed the electrofrog turnout everything is fine… Now what to do with four electrofrog turnouts[;)]. Unsure how to “insulate” the frog rails. Thanks again.
G’ Flash
Insulated joiners work just fine. I have a mix of insulfrog and electrofrog on my modules. If you bought them new they usually come with 2 insulated joiners in the box. The instructions show where the joiners go. This topic comes up at least every other week.
Pete
If you are using DC (and very occasionally DCC), the power routing feature of an Electro-frog turnout can be used to turn dead end spurs on and off automatically by throwing the turnout. Where you are using power routing the insulated rail joiner is not necessary in that branch of the turnout.
Fred W
Hi, Fred.
You can kill dead end spurs by throwing the switch (aka points) if you use solid (hot) frogs.
Throwing the turnout is what I do to commercial products. The usual target is a round receptacle.
(John Armstrong castigated himself for, “Throwing the turnout,” in his writeup for the White Pass and Yukon On3 layout. Of course, the WP&Y had stub switches…)
All of my hand-laid specialwork features hot frogs. I have some pieces of rolling stock that have pickups as little as 20mm long - 'way to short to span an insulated frog.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)