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Update on a shinohara double crossover problem

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  • Member since
    February 2002
  • From: Westchester NY
  • 1,747 posts
Update on a shinohara double crossover problem
Posted by retsignalmtr on Monday, February 17, 2014 7:14 PM

Two months ago there was a topic on shinohara double crossovers. At the time I was working on a layout of a Doctor I met who had a folded dogbone style of layout with a Shinohara CD-83 double crossover in the middle. Someone before me worked on it and a loco would make it around the loops but would short when it traveled on the diverging routes through the switches. The loops had PSX-AR's controlling them. The The AR's weren't doing anything. I had to cut all the wires to the track that the previous worker had installed and many of them were just connected with wirenuts. There were no wires connected to the rails on the switches. The power phase on the rails was AB BA. I insulated the switches from the loops, wiring them AB AB phase then wired the loops through the PSX-AR's. This corrected the short circuit problem with the loco on the diverging routes.

  • Member since
    September 2004
  • From: Dearborn Station
  • 24,281 posts
Posted by richhotrain on Tuesday, February 18, 2014 4:35 AM

I started one of those earlier threads.

Sounds like the guy before you tried to turn the WS double crossover into a pair of auto-reversers - - - LOL.

I cannot imagine rewiring a double crossover in that fashion.

In my experience, the main cause of failure on that particular brand of double crossover is one or more loose jumpers on the underside of the double crossover.

For anyone who is unfamiliar with the jumper system on a DCC Friendly double crossover, or on several other Walthers Shinohara turnouts like a 3-way turnout, wye, etc., thin copper strips are used to jumper the underside of one rail to a another to provide electrical continuity in phase.  It is an intricate system that works fine as long as the jumpers maintain firm contact with the rail.  When firm contact fails, the jumper needs to be re-secured to establish firm contact once again.  Using wires to replace the jumpers and connecting those wires with wire nuts is simply asking for more trouble.

Rich

Alton Junction

  • Member since
    February 2002
  • From: Westchester NY
  • 1,747 posts
Posted by retsignalmtr on Tuesday, February 18, 2014 5:50 AM

I did not modify the jumpers under the switches. They were all intact and working. I did insulate all the rails on the ends of the switches from the loops by cutting gaps with a dremmel and filling them with styrene. Connected the rails on the switch to the DCC buss in an AB-AB arrangement front to back A, front rail, B rear rail on both of the straight routes through the switch. The AR's power the loops. It works great and the Doctor is very happy.

There were some manufacturing problems that I have heard of with the jumpers. My club has one of the doubles with a defective jumper.

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