Powering turnout frogs HELP

Model Railroader Layouts and layout building
1

Hi im new at the world of model railroading and i have got a few o scale engines and the atlas 21st century tracksystem in 2-rail.

I have an engine that doesn’t have all wheel pickup and the engine stalls or almost stops at the turnout frogs when it passes over. I use Atlas o 21st century turnout #5.

I know i need to power the frog but i don’t know how to do it. i don’t want any complex power routing and such. I run regular DC and i just want the engine to run smooth over the turnouts without stalling or stopping at the frogs.

Can someone give me a simple description on how to power the turnout frog so i can do this ?

It would be very helpful

Thanks in advance

2

I am not personally familiar with Atlas 2 rail O track. However, the web site states the turnout has a metal frog that can be powered. The principles are the same for powering frogs on all 2 rail turnouts that come with insulated frogs.

  • the frog must be metal.

  • a feeder wire is attached to the metal frog

  • an SPDT electrical contact that changes position when the turnout is thrown is required. The contact can be a part of the switch machine, or a contact or slide switch or toggle switch that is linked to the throw linkage. A separate latching or 2 coil relay that throws in conjunction with the switch machine can even be used.

  • the feeder wire from the metal frog attaches to the center terminal of the contact.

  • wires are run from the turnout stock rails to the appropriate side terminals of the contact. When the turnout is thrown for the curved path, the frog is electrically connected to the straight stock rail. When the turnout is thrown for the straight path, the frog is electrically connected to the curved stock rail.

That’s it.

yours in powering frogs

Fred W

3

Welcome to the forum and to the hobby. You can see why it is called the world’s greatest hobby, you get to learn how to do many things. You are here discovering the magical world of DC wiring. Asking questions such as this is importnat, you will get good answers.

You will also need to learn the theory to avoid being overwelmed all the time. Get a book, or magizine artical or something. I learned in boy scouts. The plod through and learn it. It is a little complicated at first, but in time becomes simple, though that does not always mean easy.

You can learn this as well as woodworking, track laying, model building and 10 other things. good luck.

4

Thanks for the help, how much more complicated will it get if i wish to have power routing ?

Say if the turnout is thrown for the curved path and the engine runs over to that siding, i then throw the turnout for the straight track and that terminates the connection to that track where the engine is. I can then run another engine over the straight track.

Can i use the same switch for that or do i need more switches ?

5

Power routing is for the turnout only,meaning that the polarity change is needed for the frog alone.This has previously been answered so I won’t duplicate.The turnout is not designed nor meant to power adjacent trackwork and the frog shouldn’t be linked to the neighbouring tracks electrically to avoid shorts.You will need either insulated rail joiners or a simple gap at both your frog rails so that changing your frog’s polarity will not interfere with the rest of the trackwork which in turn has constant power.

I suggest that you visit Loy’s Toys website,click on “Peco” then search in their Electrofrog type turnouts.They have nice instructions on how to wire these and it will allow you to understand how this goes,although not the same scale,since the principle is the same.

6

Power routing would take some internal rewiring of an Atlas turnout. Atlas deliberately has NOT made any of their turnouts “power routing” for years, so that they could be dropped into a layout without any chance of short circuits. Power routing is a neat feature, but to use it on most layouts requires one to be able to understand and apply DC block wiring theory to their particular situation.

With power routing turnouts, there must NOT be any possible power feeds in the extended frog rails of the turnout. This is pretty easy to manage with spurs and single-ended yard ladders. It is not so easily managed for passing sidings, cross-overs, connecting routes, and the like. In these latter cases, gaps must be installed to prevent the frog from being fed by another turnout or feeder and causing a short circuit.

With Atlas and other insulated frog turnouts, the easiest way to isolate an engine on a spur, is to insulate or gap one of the rails, creating an electrical “block” of track. Then install a toggle switch (or Atlas Selector) and feeder to the insulated rail. The power packs are hooked up to the 2 sides of the Selector or toggle switch. Now, you can select which power pack controls the block. Or, put the Selector or toggle in the center position and the block is turned off. This is called DC block wiring (using a common rail if you only insulate 1 rail).

Hope this makes some sense and helps

Fred W