I have all Walthers/Shinohara "dcc friendly" turnouts including 4s, 6s and curved. My question is what is the best way to power these frogs? Where best to drill the hole not just "in the frog" but a detailed description. A photo is not as good as a dood description.
73
Bruce in the Peg
Here is some info on your turnouts.
http://www.wiringfordcc.com/switches_walthers.htm
Pete
I pray every day I break even, Cause I can really use the money!
I started with nothing and still have most of it left!
Thanks Pete. I do have a copy of that and it does explain the electical aspects but what I need is specifically where to drill the hole in the frog and how to solder it without it snagging a flange etc.
BB
Bruce, if I were you, I would drill (or have someone do it for you...) the underside of the frog if it is a monolithic element on the whole appliance...the whole turnout. Use a small self-tapping metal screw, or tap the hole and make it fit a small machine screw. Then, solder a wrapped tiny filament of wire at the head of the screw and drive it home.
You would have pre-drilled a small hole below the turnout, through it's pad, for this tiny filament of wire to drop down to meet a feeder or a switch to toggle between the two needed polarities.
If the frog is not filled and monolithic as a result, you will have to figure out how to solder a wire against a part of the rails, say the frog point part. It may be that you'll have to drill, or pare away plastic platform for the frog in order to accomplish this...I don't know how these particular turnouts are made.
-Crandell
When I saw the title "Powering a Frog" I remembered this commercial. It's a classic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkuWyL9748U
Springfield PA