Have some older Shinohara turnouts that are being quite unfriendly in the short circuit department. I am looking at the new Walthers Shinohara DCC friendly turnouts. I'm thinking about trying a few of them. Are they "plug and play" or do I need to do something special to use them? They aren't part of reversing loops or anything fancy. Any thoughts or assistance greatly appreciated. Still very much a DCC newbie! Thanks!!
NoDCCin_73 Have some older Shinohara turnouts that are being quite unfriendly in the short circuit department. I am looking at the new Walthers Shinohara DCC friendly turnouts. I'm thinking about trying a few of them. Are they "plug and play" or do I need to do something special to use them? They aren't part of reversing loops or anything fancy. Any thoughts or assistance greatly appreciated. Still very much a DCC newbie! Thanks!!
I have several types of Walthers Shinohara "specialty" turnouts like wyes, curved turnouts, 3-way turnouts, double crossovers and double slips. However, I have no "standard" turnouts, choosing Atlas Custom Line turnouts instead, primarily based upon cost considerations.
There are no special wiring requirements for the Walthers Shinohara DCC friendly turnouts, but it does help to power every end track on a Walthers Shinohara turnout, especially the double crossovers.
The Walthers Shinohara turnouts are reliable, but I have noticed quality control issues on the "speciality" turnouts. I have found several flaws on new turnouts such as inadequately soldered spots that easily come apart, warped and bent end tracks that need to be straightened, and some loose parts that need to be secured and sometimes reglued.
I have resisted buying the "standard" turnouts based upon the price difference between the cost of a Walthers Shinihara turnout and an Atlas Custom Line turnout. I would be interested in others thoughts about whether the Walthers Shinohara turnouts are worth the extra cost.
Rich
Alton Junction
Some older Shinohara turnouts had point geometry problems that caused flangeback-to-open-point shorts. I cannot say of my own knowledge whether those problems have been corrected since the late 1970s.
Incidentally, they are Shinohara turnouts. Walthers is just their US distributor.
How do I deal with turnout problems? I roll my own.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - with hand-laid specialwork)