Recently I changed a few switches from #6 to #8 code 80. This is N scale. I have three sidings and when I throw the switch I have power to come out to the mainline.Now I just changed three more and when I throw the switch to put my train back into the siding I just made the power shorts out. I do not understand what is happening here.Can someone shed a little light on this for me?I had to move all the trains in order to work on the track.I now want to put them back into their sidings and I throw the switch and I get the short. These are Peco #8 code 80 and the other ones we’er the same and I have no trouble with them.
Does Peco make numbered turnouts in N scale? I thought they were labled “Large”, “Medium” and “Small” radius?
Anyways, it sounds like you are having issues with Electro-frog type turnouts. If you stick with the “Insul-frog” type, then you will be better off (less issues).
Here is a link to a helpful page.
David B
It may be one of two things that I can think of: you had no power-routing function in your first turnouts, and now you do, and they conflict when you line the points for the siding. Or, you did previously have power-routing, but knew to/learned to gap the siding at one end. Now, you have no gaps.
No matter…the easy fix is to simply provide a gap just prior to either turnout leading to one of the affected sidings. By that I mean gap the rails in the siding, right where the turnout, itself, ends…not at the entrance to the turnout at the main line end.
-Crandell
My other switches we’er insulated frogs and I thought getting electro frogs would be better.For the life of me I could not figure out what was happening.Any more thoughts on what I should do? I am not starting over, the frogs cost too much to do that.
First, test the theory. Your sidings should work fine if you line up all the turnouts at both ends, so that the points are set the same at each end of each siding. If that doesn’t work, then the problem may be somewhere else, but I’m guessing that you do indeed have a problem with the electro-frog turnouts.
As suggested above, just isolate the two interior rails coming off the frogs of each turnout. Supply power to the track in between with a separate feeder. The short section between the frog and the end of the turnout will get its power through the points. Peco turnouts do that well.
Anyone good with diagrams?Where do I take my rail joiners off and put on plastic ones? A picture is worth a thousand words.
Read this carefully, put the plastic joiners right after the switche deverging route going to your sidings. No pic needed.
Edit: here is a pic
This might be a dumb question but after you do that and the train goes thru the siding, will the loco still have power to run?I took the metal rail joiners off of one switch and lined up the siding and I moved the sawitch and still had power. So I couldn’t go all the way in because of the pins that we’er holding the track straight. I took just the loco and put it on the siding and it did not have any poer.So if I run the train into the siding my loco will lose power, am I correct?I used to have plastic rail joiners and cannot find them now.
You will have to run power feeders on the sidings, if you don’t have them now. You should have power feeders on every track coming off of any switches for that matter. Just add the power feeder wires just down after the plastic joiners.
[:D]I completely get it now. Now I have to drive 30 miles to another town just to get the plastic rail joiners.I know of someone going tomorrow and if I can wait that long I’ll ask her to get them for me.Thanks all of you for tthe information. This forum is the best way to get the answer we need.Thanks again.
Let us know how it goes. Froggy is working on the frogs!! LOL
[#oops]Troubles again, I ran power feeders to every siding and have all the black to black and connected to the power from my NCE Power Cab. I have all the red wires connected and when I go to connect them to the red wire my red light goes out. Even after I took the metal rail joiners off I lost power to all of my locos. My locos all have sound. NOW What???
You might have the feeders reversed. Did you try switching them to the opposite siding rail?
By the way, you don’t need insulating joiners. Honestly, they look terrible, and clunky to boot. I dislike them and will never use them again. If you can fix your track in position, best by ballasting, but track spikes will do, you only need to have a gap and let them line up on their own. Joiners are mostly for alignment, but you don’t really need them, particularly in this case where you have a segment between two turnouts. Yes, you must curve that segment at each end to meet the diverging route of your turnouts, but ballasting or spiking will keep the four rail tips on each end of your siding in alignment.
-Crandell
I used to get the sounds of my locos, I’ve checked and rechecked my power feeders on the sidings. Comes a time when you get tired and have to try it again tomorrow.I’ve got all the reds tied together and the blacks together.The blacks are connected to the black power wire and when I connect the red,I lose my red power light.I am really confused now.
It’s OK, just go back and start over again. I just did the same thing, I wired up too many switches all at once, without testing each one as I go, and sure enough I had a short. I went back and started from scratch.
All the new power feeders you just connected, just remove all those. Then just connect only one of them up and test. You must have cross wired something.
If I would had stayed with the insulated frogs would I have had all this extra wireing to do on the sidings.Would evrything had worked good if I had ordered the insulated frogs instead of the electro frogs?