"Keeping my hand on the throttle...and my eyes on rail."
Find a solder wick....and de-solder the turnouts....one by one...all...how many did you say?
Seriously, a solder wick will be your bosom buddy after you use it on the first turnout.
Generally, if the joiners are doing a good job of it, the outer stock rails of turnouts don't need any feeding since they join rails that should already be powered. It is only the two v'd rails at the frog, called the frog rails, that need power if the frog is insulated and if the turnout is not power routing. In other words, the dead frog precludes the contininuance of power from the points rails that slide back and forth. So, the frog rails may need their own power source, but often that comes via the next joiners that connect them to the next length of rail. The only time those two rails, and what lies beyond them, doesn't need feeding is if the points permit power routing base on their alignment...and most turnouts these days do exactly that.
In any event, if I understand your question, yes, the left stock rail should be wired to the same bus side as the left rail on the diverging route if you look at the turnout from the points end. Similarly, the right (diverging) stock rail should be wired to the same side of the bus pair as the right through frog rail. Always left with left, and right with right as you face one direction pretending you are standing in the middle of the tracks. You don't want contrary or conflicting power meeting the powered axles right after the frog when the powered axles still on the points rails are getting the opposite side of power. Big BZZZZZT! Keep the rails and wires to the same sides.
selector wrote:Find a solder wick....and de-solder the turnouts....one by one...all...how many did you say? Seriously, a solder wick will be your bosom buddy after you use it on the first turnout.
I love my solder sucker!
The dremel will only help you if you also have a flex shaft for it that will allow you to get close enough to be square with the rails when making cuts. Still desoldering is probably best as long as you don't melt the ties too badly.
Before doing anything as drastic as removing the turnouts, I would take another approach, but first, I want to make sure I understand the problem. Have the wing rails gone dead? Is the frog wired so that it changes polarity with the position of the switch?
John Timm