Unexpected Track Problems
Although I am not ready to start building my little railroad in our newly designated "train room", I am working on a plan whenever I feel up to it and I am envisioning it in my imagination. I also buy products as I find them on sale or, if previously used, at a great price. At this point, I have quite a collection of trains so much of my focus has turned to designing a layout plan for this small room.
There are a few issues to overcome because the room is so small and, subsequently, some track would need to be lift out or portable but last night I found an unexpected problem with some of the track I plan to use for this model railroad layout.
Some of the track will be handlaid simply because no commercial manufacturer makes what I need for my dual-gauge mainline track. So, I'll be gluing down wood ties... then actually spiking rail to the ties just like in the real world. For the remainder of the track which will run through villages and down by the docks, I will use MicroEngineering narrow gauge track.
I have a couple of turnouts made by MicroEngineering on hand and I pulled one of them out last night so I could ensure I have a clear picture of my wiring plan. This will be a relatively small and simple layout so I want to "keep it simple" overall. Rather than remotely powered turnouts, I have opted for little switch stands that I can throw using my own hands as I walk around the layout.
Last night, I wanted to ensure that all my locomotives will be able to stay powered as they navigate through these turnouts... I pulled out one of the turnouts... and I pulled out my electronics tester so I could test for conductivity through each rail through the turnout in both directions. I quickly found that the "frogs" are insulated... that is to say they don't get any power whatsoever.
The "frog" is the rail in the shape of a little X in the middle of the turnout. Sometimes this frog is touched by the wheels on the right side of the locomotive... sometimes it is touched by the wheels on the left side of the locomotive. Since the electrical pickups are through the wheels, understanding where power is located through an entire turnout is critical for smooth operation. So, sometimes my frogs will need to be powered for the right-hand-side of the locomotives and sometimes my frogs will need to be powered for the left-hand-side of the locomotives.
Using my electronic tester, I found that my frogs were completely isolated from the rest of the turnout. For most locomotives, this is a good thing since the polarity changes depending upon which direction the locomotive is navigating. The wheelbase of my larger locomotives can still pick up power while straddling this frog (front wheelset to back wheelset). But, my smaller locomotives like my little Porter steam locomotives cannot effectively straddle these frogs (again, front wheelset to back wheelset) so I will need to power the frogs or come up with another solution.
After a bit of research last night, I found that Caboose Industries makes a manual switch stand (one I can throw with my own hand) that also has contacts to wire in order to power these frogs. "THAT'S what I need!"
When I throw the switch stand lever, contact is made between appropriate rail segments and that frog. When I throw the switch stand lever the opposite way, contact will be reversed giving me the opposite polarity in that frog.
So, when the switch stand is thrown one way, the frog is powered as the right rail polarity... when the switch stand is thrown the other way, the frog is powered as the left rail polarity. This should help my little Porter locomotives and my little gas-mechanical switchers to smoothly navigate through all my turnouts.
So, I'll need to do some extra wiring for each of these turnouts. On the positive side, it is better to realize this before I start laying track rather than realizing this after my track is laid!
There are a few issues to overcome because the room is so small and, subsequently, some track would need to be lift out or portable but last night I found an unexpected problem with some of the track I plan to use for this model railroad layout.
Some of the track will be handlaid simply because no commercial manufacturer makes what I need for my dual-gauge mainline track. So, I'll be gluing down wood ties... then actually spiking rail to the ties just like in the real world. For the remainder of the track which will run through villages and down by the docks, I will use MicroEngineering narrow gauge track.
 |
| The "frog" is inside the red box... this is unpowered. |
Last night, I wanted to ensure that all my locomotives will be able to stay powered as they navigate through these turnouts... I pulled out one of the turnouts... and I pulled out my electronics tester so I could test for conductivity through each rail through the turnout in both directions. I quickly found that the "frogs" are insulated... that is to say they don't get any power whatsoever.
The "frog" is the rail in the shape of a little X in the middle of the turnout. Sometimes this frog is touched by the wheels on the right side of the locomotive... sometimes it is touched by the wheels on the left side of the locomotive. Since the electrical pickups are through the wheels, understanding where power is located through an entire turnout is critical for smooth operation. So, sometimes my frogs will need to be powered for the right-hand-side of the locomotives and sometimes my frogs will need to be powered for the left-hand-side of the locomotives.
 |
| Locomotives with very short wheelbases will lose power when traveling over these unpowered frogs... the answer is to power the frogs through a switch in the switch stands. |
After a bit of research last night, I found that Caboose Industries makes a manual switch stand (one I can throw with my own hand) that also has contacts to wire in order to power these frogs. "THAT'S what I need!"
When I throw the switch stand lever, contact is made between appropriate rail segments and that frog. When I throw the switch stand lever the opposite way, contact will be reversed giving me the opposite polarity in that frog.
So, when the switch stand is thrown one way, the frog is powered as the right rail polarity... when the switch stand is thrown the other way, the frog is powered as the left rail polarity. This should help my little Porter locomotives and my little gas-mechanical switchers to smoothly navigate through all my turnouts.
So, I'll need to do some extra wiring for each of these turnouts. On the positive side, it is better to realize this before I start laying track rather than realizing this after my track is laid!
Comments
Post a Comment