Hey. One of my Peco Turnouts (code 80, N scale, insulfrog) shorts out with Athern locomotives. I think the problem is that the wheel is a bit wider than most(my Kato is fine), and the wheel touches both rails coming out of the frog, and shorts. Does anybody know what I mean, or of a way to fix this?
Thanks
Nagrom
Yes, it’s a common problem. You’ve diagnosed it correctly.
The recommended solution is to get some clear nail polish and paint over the spot on the frog where the wheel makes contact with both rails. Its a very short spot, so it shouldn’t cause any problem with power loss. Once the nail polish dries, it will insulate the rails and prevent the short. Eventually, you’ll have to repeat this, but it should last quite a while.
If you’ve got a very Gothic girlfriend, borrow her black nail polish.
I used the nail polish trick to good effect once I experienced the problem you face and learned here how to deal with it. Eventually, though, I decided I wanted a more positive and permanent fix. So, I used a thin cut-off wheel and a Dremel-like tool and simply cut through one of the frog rails (doesn’t matter which one) about 1/2" further away from the point. This leaves a longer insulfrog for the one route, but none of my small switchers seems to mind. Meantime, I will never get shorts for that reason again with that turnout.
If you should decide to tackle this solution once to try your hand and test the efficacy with your own locomotives, try to leave two sets of spike heads retaining the small segment of rail you isolate to keep it stable if at all possible.
Also if you haven’t done the mod to the guard of shimming it with a .010" piece of styrene then you might want to try that as well. This will pull the engine over to the outside rail and could keep it from shorting out. We had the same issue on a layout that I help build and operate and went back and added the shim and never had a short again with engines going through the frog.
Thanks for the help. I think I will use the nail polish idea. I am no good with shimming stuff, and I don’t want to try a cut in the rail. I have aleady screwed one Peco up and had to retire it to a yard setting. That is a costly mistake.
Morgan