RailPro User Group
General => General Discussion => Topic started by: drisdon on December 19, 2017, 12:22:15 AM
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I have been constructing a junction module that has a 60 degree crossing and a single wye track. Wiring and electrical is not my forte, what is the best way to wire this that will work for DCC and Railpro? I've read about using a PSX-AR, would this work for D.C. and DCC? The wye is an interchange track and will have derails at both ends, is there a way to tie the electronics into them? What causes the issue, the wye track or the diamond?
Thanks,
Dan
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Dan:
Do this help?
https://tonystrains.com/wire-railroad-diamond-crossing/
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Or this:
http://model-railroad-hobbyist.com/node/26778
I had to look at my own but my movable point crossings are different than your diamond. I essentially just have two frogs to worry about.
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I had found that first one and that is were they mention the reverser. The second doesn't discuss any need to reverse polarity because all you do is cut gaps, which I think the Walthers crossing has built in, but I need to verify this. This will result in a short unpowered section of track which is probably where the idea of powering it with a tortoise or frog juicer comes from.
Next, does the single connecting wye track cause an issue?
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The only section that will reverse polarity is/are the frog(s). You will need something to make that happen. (Free-mo requires powered frogs for those not familiar). Mine were different as they are so shallow that they are movable point crossings and the polarity reversal is handled by the associated Tortoise machine.
Are these going to be signaled? Maybe the polarity assignment could be controlled with the signals as well.
A wye will reverse polarity and will require a solution. My wye hasn't been built yet so I can't help on the hardware.
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Visualize you track schematic with one rail black and the other red. Any place a black rail nears a red rail will require polarity management - auto reverser, switch machine control, signal control, IR detection, or simply dead track. If you have keep-alives in your equipment then dead track is a viable zero cost option otherwise, some polarity switching device will be required.
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Alan
That was very helpful! Thanks for explaining it so well, no I know what I need to do and which ones will get gapped and attended to.
Dan
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I have a Wye and two crossings, one over double track. I use Frog Juicers, I am not skilled with wiring, this is the most simple solution I found and it works. That is what I needed.
Ken Zieska
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I use an auto reverser on the wye on my layout. The switches all have powered frogs from the switch points.
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I wanted to close the loop on this, the Walthers crossings are DCC friendly and no special wiring is required. A reverser was not needed for the junction, just the normal type of gaps around the turnouts.
Thanks for all your responses.
Dan
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Curious how you handled your wye track. Rereading your initial post, it is confusing to me that you state there are derails at both ends of the wye.
A true wye track must have polarity management (except for battery powered locos). Do you have a true wye track and, if so, were you able to manage the polarity switching?
