October MRR issue pp 26-32 illustrates a very neat and tidy crossover modification using two of the new Walthers turnouts to bring the track centres closer together. Walthers seems to have decided to build extra long diverging routes presumably to add flexibility to layout design.
Instead of just cutting each turnout to fit the idea is to remove just the inner frog rail on each turnout, trim the outer frog rails (point rails) to length and put the two together by sliding the outer frog rail of one into the inner frog rail ties of the other. No joiners needed but the two turnouts become a single unit. Electrically as well as physically because you can’t fit insulating joiners into the crossover rails, no joints.
However, the article describes the need to remove one jumper from each turnout, from the stock rail to the frog rail. That seems just fine. It’s only necessary in order to pull the inner frog rail and insert the opposite turnout frog rail in its place.
What puzzles me is why the author sees the need to restore the removed jumper connections after reassembling the two turnouts into one. The connecting frog rails would each be powered by the relevant stock rails as far as I can see. You could remove both outer stock rail jumpers without cutting power to the crossover frog rails. In fact, the none of the stock rail jumpers is required at all because power reaches all turnout rails from the heels of each turnout.
Is there a need to restore any of the stock rail jumpers in any feasibly used scenario or has the author just added an unnecessary step to an otherwise simple and tidy construction?