Shinohara switches

[Moonie]

Well, we (my dad and I) have finally made the jump to DCC, purchasing a Digitrax Zephyr for our small layout. The layout is temporarily wired with light-guage feeders and a transformer box (the wires will shortly be soldered to a bus wire, as time permits). The layout is bedroom-sized, and all the switches are Code 83 Shinohara live-frog manual-throws. Is there anything that we need to know about wiring these switches? I'm not sure if live frog is better than insulfrog for DCC (or vice versa), or if it even matters. Mainly, i don't want any shorts that could wreck the decoders when the locomotives go over the switches. Any info would be appreciated,

Peter.

[desertdog]

You need to insulate the two rails that lead forward from the frog. An insulated rail joiner on each will work fine. For smoother operation over turnouts, I prefer a "live frog" and wire it so that it changes polarity as the switch is thrown. Whether you use a switch machine or manual means to throw the turnout, you will need a way to accomplish this. Otherwise, you will create a short circuit. This question comes up fairly often here, so I recommend doing a search. Better still, MR has good reference material on wiring and wiring for DCC. John Timm