Turnout problem

[ronsatt]

Do turnouts require any special wiring besides mailine feeders before and aft the turnout usung dcc? Locos seem to stop in the middle out the turnout on the curved part rather than the straight track.

[Jerrys HO]

Which scale? I have heard the N has problems but not with HO on the diverging route. As far as feeders before and aft I do not have that on mine and they work flawlessly.

Jerry

[ronsatt]

Its HO Jerry. Thats for the note. I like slow scale speeds.

[Jerrys HO]

Thats for the note

Like you I prefer slow. I have never seen a loco at the drag strips. Maybe Wounded Bear has.

Are they numbered turnout's or standard ones with the plastic frogs? Are they shorting out when crossing thru? You may have one of the rails pushed back hitting the frog (if numbered ones).

Do all loco's react the same or just one? I have an 0-6-0 DCC that used to drag the belly of the gear box and get stuck. Jonathan had a trick of filing down the gear box and it solved the problem.

Jerry

[bapguy]

What brand ? Atlas code 100 or code 83? On some of the older Atlas turn outs that have rivets that hold the point rails in place, I drill a whole through the rivet whole down through the road bed. I then feed a wire through the wholes, solder one end to the rivet and the other end goes to the track bus. I run diesel switchers at speed step 1 over my tunouts with no problems.  Joe

[CNE Runner]

Ron - Let me give you some pointers regarding better turnout operations. Before we start, I am going to make the assumption that your turnouts have insulated (dead) frogs.

Check the Internet if you don't understand the terminology I use. Turnouts should always have the electrical power added from the point facing side. Now solder a short piece of small gauge wire from a stock rail to its companion closure rail (between the point rivet/hinge and ahead of the frog itself). Do the same thing on the other rail. [You have a better electrical connection than relying on point>stock rail touching and an under rail 'scrubber'.] This should improve your turnout operation immensely. A further step would be to only use those types of turnouts that have a live frog.

I will include a link to a very helpful website that may do a better job of explaining what I am describing above.

http://www.wiringfordcc.com/switches.htm

Trust me, installation of a set of jumper wires will make your turnouts perform much, much better. NOTE: There are additional procedures if your turnouts have live frogs (such as Peco Electrofrog). If that is true in your case let me know and I'll expand my directions for that case.

Regards,
Ray

[kamerad47]

Use a TCS keep alive decoder !!!!