How Atlas suggests wiring their turnouts

[gary233]

Did you resolve the problem?  What was causing the short?

[kasskaboose]

Thanks everyone for all the help.  The assistance provided should serve as a guide for others with Atlas turnouts. They are so easy to use.  I highly recommend them!

[jjdamnit]

Hello all,

I use Atlas Snap Switches and PECO #2 turnouts on my pike. The PECOs are "Insulfrog".

Because both these types of turnouts are "dead frog" I don't worry about wiring each turnout for frog polarity.

I consider turnouts just another track section. The exception being the Wye that requires insulating rail joiners (or gapping) and an Auto Reverser (MRC AD520).

Unless you are using powered frogs you don't need "extra" feeders to the diverging side of the turnout.

Hope this helps.

[RR_Mel]

I used Walthers 948-841/Shinohara joiners when I rebuilt built my layout in 1994 on all my Atlas turnouts and flex track.  I do not solder the joiners (learned the hard way) nor do I use feeders on any for my Atlas turnouts.  I haven’t ever had any problems with bad connections at the joiners.

 

My layout has 28 blocks with 28 feeders and like I said I’ve never had so much as one problem with conductivity in 24 years.  My shortest locomotive is a MDC/Roundhouse 0-6-0 and even at a creep they run perfectly through all my Atlas and Peco turnouts.

 

I went with the Walthers joiners because of their low visibility profile.  There are four joiners in this picture and they are very hard to see.  Code 83 rails.

 

 

This picture is a homebrew Double Crossover, the joiners are just to the left of the turnout frogs and right of the crossing frog in the middle of the picture.

 

 

 

 

 

Mel

 

 

My Model Railroad   

http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/

 

Bakersfield, California

 

I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.

 

[BigDaddy]

kasskaboose

Should I still use the three sets of feeders for each turnout or not bother since Atlas says it's not necessary?

It's a redundancy and you get to make the choice.   Metal rail joiners may not be tight, weathering and ballast cement may compromise the conductivity.  I did not use 3 sets on my turnouts.

[gregc]

kasskaboose

The next issue is wiring the turnouts to the buss without creating a short.  Hence that is the reason for talking to Atlas.

how about making sure there are no shorts using just metal rail joiners first, before adding any feeders.

[richhotrain]

kasskaboose

The next issue is wiring the turnouts to the buss without creating a short.  

It should be simple enough if you follow a colored wire protocol. For example, a bus can consist of red and blue wires, and the feeders can also be red and blue. Red to red, and blue to blue.

But, you can still create a short if you wire a feeder to the wrong rail. So, you need to be certain that you understand the polarity of the various rail segments that make up a turnout.

The diagram illustrated below from Allan Gartner's Wiring for DCC website shows these rail segments by polarity on turnouts like the Atlas Custom Line.

Rich

[richhotrain]

There is no need to use plastic rail joiners on an Atlas Custom Line turnout unless, for some reason, you are trying to isolate either the turnout or the adjacent section of track.

Rich

[richhotrain]

Atlas Custom Line turnouts are non-power routing with dead metal frogs. They are considered DCC Friendly. As such, there are no special wiring requirements. For maximum connectivity, they should be wired on all three ends. Theoretically, you don't need to add feeders to the turnout at all, but this presupposes that the rail joiners are nice and tight to carry current through the turnout from one end to another.

Rich

[kasskaboose]

Randy (and anyone else versed in wiring): Very true that one wrong caused a short.  I might have resolved the issue yesterday, so what a big problem resolved.  The next issue is wiring the turnouts to the buss without creating a short.  Hence that is the reason for talking to Atlas.  Should I still use the three sets of feeders for each turnout or not bother since Atlas says it's not necessary?

Besides what you mention, I can use plastic joiners to go from mainline to yard. 

[rrinker]

 You only need palstic joiners to cut off power for DC or if yoou want to be able to cut power for parking trains with the power completely cut off when using DCC. Or if the turnout is part of a reverse loop or wye.

 Feeders on all 3 legs are NOT the cause of your problem, my entire layout was wired that way. You just had one backwards (left rail connected to right rail bus and vice-versa - actually, just ONE wrong would be a short).

                                                 --Randy

 

[kasskaboose]

Hello,

I've almost resolved the short by removing problematic turnouts and the associated wires.  Part of the issue is not wiring Atlas turnouts correctly, so here's what Atlas told me:

Their turnouts don't require special wiring--no additional feeders--for DC or DCC.  The only thing special to do is when adding plastic rail joiners when putting turnouts in different blocks.

Thoughts?

~Lee