Turnout question

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Had a question. Just finished benchwork for 4x8 table with a 2x2 extension for a small yard. did L girder const. have new digitrax zeyphr ready to go. ran bus wires under layout. My question is: for my turnouts, obviously need dcc friendly, does that mean a non insulated frog, or am i not understanding the termonoligy? Also i am considering doing a few turnouts in the back of the layout with a tortoise, the rest doing manual throws. what kind of turnout is required? i know this may seem like a dumb question, i just want to get it right! Will try to eventually post some pics of the progress. thanks a bunch!

john

2

“DCC friendly”- generally means The track polarity doesn’t change when thrown.

Generally done by Isolating the frog (no polarity) and insulating the throw bar .

3

I’m new to this too but this what I understand.

The top pics are insulated frog turnouts (which I have and they run fine with DCC) no extra wiring required to the rails.

The bottom pics are live frog turnouts which need a switch on the turnout to change the polarity of the frog ( the tortoise machine has a switch built in)

Ken.