I like to test things as I go and at present I don’t have any main buss or feeder wires running to my track. I’m using Peco Insulfrog turnouts and I run into the problem of not being able to pull a train off the mainline when I have a second turnout on the siding for backing the train up. Something like this,
Say the train is coming down the main, takes the turnout to the left, then has to go to the right and pull forward enough to clear the turnout so it can back up on the spur. The problem, of course, is when I throw the turnout to make the backing up move, I kill power to the train. Is there a temporary fix for this, maybe with some wire soldered to Atlas track joiners? I’m running dcc if that makes any difference.
How would I solve this problem?
Thanks,
Jarrell
Jarrell, you could run an extra set of wires to wire up all your tracks at the same time.
This is what I did before I started wiring my layout up for cab control.
Gordon
Jarrell,
Radio Shack part #278-1157, or something very similar, is what you’re after IMHO.
Test leads with clips on the ends! - Just clip the North rail on the main to the North rail on your siding(s), and south to south (!) and you’ve got power to your industry - Same thing to the ‘right’ on your diagram - clip North to north, S to S, and test away - No problem!
Don’t worry about DCC, makes no difference!
HTH,
Ian
Rather than running temporary wires that may damage scenary and rollingstock and just look out of place I hooked a set of feeders to the spur marked B in your diagram. This leaves power on all the time. If you wire up to Spur A then the power can be shut off by throwing the points.
If you use ELECTRO FROG POINTS then care must be used as Short Circuits are possible as the frogs are live dependant on the direction of the blades. Ensure you use insulated joiners where power supply can cause conflict. to check this follow where the power can go with a multimeter set to OHMS before connecting the power supply.
Hope this helps.
Peter
Thanks for the suggestions guys. Since there is no scenery yet to deal with, only the Great Blue Plains (foam), I like the idea of temporary clips. But, let me get this straight. I have power coming off the mainline and will still have power when the second turnout is thrown to allow the locomotive to turn towards A, but when I throw that second turnout to allow the back up, I kill power to my locomotive. So if I can get wires connected to the mainline and over to the section that runs towards B that will make that section of the siding ‘live’, then no matter which direction the turnout is thrown, the siding is still ‘live’ and I won’t cause any shorts. Right? And does it matter which rail on the mainline is connected to which rail on the siding?
Jarrell
yes it matters, because if you get the polarity backwards, you can short the system (as others have mentioned)
Jacon 12, if I understand insulfrog turnouts, you would have power for a train as all the way down Track A as long as a turnout is not thrown against the direction of the power flow. When you want to back down into your siding, the turnout is thrown behind your train to allow you to backup. The power is basically stopped at your cut across to track A at the turnout leading to the siding. If the left hand turnout off the main was thrown to allow another train to go straight down the main, then your first train would be stalled before it entered the siding. Anyone, please correct me if I’m wrong and I’ll shut up.
Right on the first point, and yes it does matter - If you get it wrong the cmd station will simply see the short and shut down when you try and run into the siding - Doesn’t hurt anything (think of it as more testing! 
and you just reverse your handy-dandy test clips and move on…
I had more test leads jumpering across dead frogs than you could shake a stick at until recently
Cheers,
Ian
“Doesn’t hurt anything (think of it as more testing! and you just reverse your handy-dandy test clips and move on…”
Ahhh… that’s what I needed to know I guess. So it’s no more than when your rolling stock derails and causes a short… you’re not going to blow up a $150 command station…
Thanks Ian.
And thanks to everyone who tried to help me!
Jarrell
Nope, you are exactly correct. A set of aligator clip jumpers (or even a single one) on the inside (lower?) rail at “A”, would solve the problem.
So you don’t need 2 wires (jumpers)? Just run a single wire from the lower rail on the main over to a rail at B?
Jarrell
I would run a pair of jumpers to the point A. If you just run your fingers along the rails you can see which rails need to be tied together, but it is the nearest rail on the main to the nearest rail on the siding, and the farthest to the farthest.
Jumpering both rails gives you power whichever way either of the switches is thrown.
A single wire would work at B only if the top turnout was against the siding (thus allowing power in from the top rail of the main), but change the turnout and there is still no power on the top rail at all. Also that will leave A unpowered with the turnout in the diverging setting. The one wire at A that I described would only solve the exact operational problem you described not every situation. The idea with power routing turnouts is to get power to their point end, in this case the A side. As BR60103 said, two wires on the main and two wires at A will work for everything.
If this arrangement is already set up you should be able to try every possible combination in about a minute. If you don’t have aligator clips just hold the wire to track.