Shinohara switched

[Anonymous]

Help! Could someone please tell me how to block Shinohara switches? These donot have an insulated frog and I need some advice on how they should be blocked so as not to short when the switch is thrown. Thanks.

[thirdrail1]

You need to use insulated rail joiners on the rails beyond the frog. You will then need feeders from the outside rails to the inside rails, ie. 1 to 3, 2 to 4.

[Anonymous]

I was wondering if the Shinohara switches have hinged closure rails like most other brands? I'm looking for a switch with regular rails in place instead of the hinge. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Gregg, thanks for the reply. I am new to this and was wondering if you could explain more? When you say beyond the frog, does this include bothes sides of the thru rails as well as those on the turnout? Also what do mean by jumpetrs on outside to inside rails? Does this mean power needs to be put on the switch itself? As I said I am new to this. Thanks again.

[thirdrail1]

You had best get hold of "How to Wire your Model Railroad", published by Kalmbach, as it is difficult to describe what you need to do when one does not know how little is understood. But, start with a left hand switch lying horizontally on the page with the single route to the left and the two track route to the right. The two rails (main track) are rails one and two, while the new siding rails are rails three and four. The insulated rail joiners go to the right of the frog on rails two and three. To get current to the rails right of the insulated rail joiners, feeder wires are soldered from rail one to rail three and rail two to rail four. This provides continuous power to both main and siding. OK?

[Anonymous]

GREAT HELP--THANKS. I'll take your advice on the book.

[Sperandeo]

Thanks for recommending a Kalmbach book, Gregg, but Linn Westcott's "How to Wire Your Model Railroad" has been out of print for many years. It was replaced the Kalmbach line by my own "Easy Model Railroad Wiring," now in its second edition. Chapter 3, "Two-Rail Wiring" covers gap and feeder locations for Shinohara and other power-routing turnouts.

Best wishes,

Andy Sperandeo
Editor, MODEL RAILROADER Magazine

[thirdrail1]

Gusee that dates me, doesn't it, Andy?

[Anonymous]

Thanks, Andy. By the way I subscribe to Model Railroader. Think this would be a good topic for an article? A lot of time us "beginners" need the basic stuff.