I will be installing some new (old stock) Atlas III turnouts and I am curious where to add feeders to these turnouts. A wiring for DCC diagram for Atlas can be found be here In the writeup, the author suggests adding two bonds in option 1 but also states that they already exist in Atlas turnouts. Can anyone confirm if these two bonds exist in the Mark III turnout?
I believe I can see the bond when examining the underside of the turnout. Unfortunately, I have never been able to figure out how to post an image to the forum. If someone would volunteer, I could send a picture to you and then please post to this thread.
The author mentions soldering to the underside of the hinge rivet. It is confusing, I'm not sure if he means soldering to the rivet in place of or in addition to the two bonds? Any thoughts?
Where is the wire soldered to the underside of the rivet? To the round portion or the flat portion on the underside? A picture would be most helpful but I can't post one, grrr...
Finally, as I understand it, the only feeders are the two shown on the far right of the diagram, correct?
Thank you!
Oh dear, a definite brain freeze when I wrote this post!
Very simple solution, run a test for continuity! And yes, the two Option 1 bonds shown in the wiring for dcc diagram are indeed intact! Continuity = 0 at both locations. No need to solder to the hinge rivet. And yes, feeders should be soldered to the stock rails as shown on the far right side of the diagram.
I don't feed the turnouts. I just solder the joiners to the tracks going to them. Just in case a turnout breaks you don't have a bunch of feeders to mess with.
Pete.
wrench567 I don't feed the turnouts. I just solder the joiners to the tracks going to them. Just in case a turnout breaks you don't have a bunch of feeders to mess with. Pete.
Good point, there are advantages to adding feeders to the joiners versus the turnout directly. However, for me, 2 feeders to a turnout are more palatable than 6 to the joiners. I have bad knees and hate being under the layout. Plus, I find joiners with feeders to be more difficult to manipulate, especially if the track has been painted and ballasted.
I didn't mean soldering feeders to the joiners. The track the turnout is attached to has the feeders. The joiners are then soldered to the rails. If it's a long run then the feeders are six to eight feet apart. If the track is short then one feeder on each rail.
Thank you for the clarification Pete! I think there are benefits to adding feeders directly to the turnout. Some posters say feeders to every track piece, while others use a more relaxed application of feeders. I've seen many referrals to the "wiring for DCC" link and assume the author is authoritative. I do not have DCC but hope to have it in the future. Therefore I'm trying to follow his advice. May be overkill...
I dunno, I have 85 turnouts on my layout, and here's a photo of the feeders...
I think that I might have added another pair later, but I forget exactly where they're located. I should add that pretty-well all of my rail joiners are soldered together (and I am running only DC...no DCC.)
Wayne
Dr Wayne you are one of my heroes on the forum! An excellent modeler with a superb layout. To follow your advice is paying attention to a Master Model RRer! All or nearly all the turnouts are soldered? Makes it easier to wire the layout but may be more of a challenge if any problematic turnouts occur over time. I don't have your experience and I've never unsoldered rail joiners... easy to do or a bit of challenge? In my case, we're talking a pretty basic switching layout in an industrial district. Should be an easy conversion to DCC if I decide to go that way and easy to operate if I stay DC.
Thanks for your kind comments, Rick, but soldering almost everything together was the only way I could think of to make it work, without getting into trying to learn stuff about which I don't have a clue.
I do have plastic spacers in various portions of track where I might wish to isolate a train, so that another train can pass on an adjacent track...everything on my layout is actually pretty basic.
I have managed to install DCC in a couple of locos for friends, but it's not all that enjoyable for me, as I barely understand much of it.
About the only time I run more than one train at a time, is when some of my very young grandkids drop-in...they run around following a single loco, then I start to add more, one at a time. and the more there are, the faster they run. Eventually, I start removing the locos, one-at-a-time, until they're all gone, and the game ends.
I usually only need to unsolder rail joiners if I'm re-arranging the track or replacing a faulty turnout.
When I decided to build this fairly large structure...
...I had to re-arrange the track and move this turnout...
...and then put everything back in a new place...
IDRickI don't have your experience and I've never unsoldered rail joiners... easy to do or a bit of challenge?
It's actually pretty easy....I simply touch the soldering iron to either the rail or the rail joiner (depending, of course, on the size of the soldering iron) then as soon as the solder starts to melt, I use either a small screwdriver or an older blade in an X-acto knife to push the unsoldered rail joiner away from the joint.When you add new track or a new turnout, you can use the same procedure to heat the rail and the pushed-back joiner to make the new connections.
I think that a lot of us start out knowing little, but are left on our own so much that we're almost forced to try something...and we either fail miserably or have surprising success...each being a lesson which will increase our determnation to become more adept.My father was extraordinarily competent in many aspects, but I eventually realised that he simply put his mind to solve a problem, and would come-up with an even better solution than the first one that had occurred to him. It was a learning experience for me, and I eventually was able to come-up with similar results....sometimes even better than him.
I'm now entering the time where I become less adept, and although I sometimes struggle with a project, I'm not yet at a point where I'm going to simply give-up...there's too much still left to be done.
Thank you, Wayne! Very informative, helpful post with excellent supporting pictures. You're a superb teacher. Over the years, I have copied many of your posts with a snipping tool and then pasted them into a word document for easy referral. Kudos and thanks again!
I appreciate your kind comments, Rick, and I'm always pleased when I'm able to help a fellow model railroader.