The electrical routing of the Peco Electrofrog is as different from the Insulfrog as day is to night. I wouldn't even try to compare the two. It's worse than comparing apples to oranges. Let's take a look at the Peco Electrofrog so that we can understand how it works electrically.
At first glance, the Electrofrog is a nicely designed turnout. Except for the guard rails, there is no plastic for wheels to run on. It's completely Code 100 (or 83 or 70) nickel silver rail. It's a beautiful turnout. When weathered, ballasted, and scenicked, you don't even notice the oversize ties, tie plates or track spikes. The positive locking action of the switch points makes it the ideal turnout for anyone's layout.
When it comes to using DCC, there are a couple of problems. The solutions, however, are relatively simple. Let's first take a look at how the power is routed in the Electrofrog so as to get a better understanding of the operation of the turnout.
Power-Routing In An Unmodified Peco Electrofrog
The Electrofrog was originally designed for the days of analog when we wanted to power sidings based on which way the points were thrown. We could drive a locomotive into the siding and then set the points for the mainline route. We could rest assured that the locomotive wouldn't creep away on us - assuming there were no track feeds in the siding. We could then flick another turnout that held another locomotive and we could then drive that new locomotive. This ability had everything to do with how the Electrofrog was wired - By a combination of the rails and wire bonds on the underside, the points acted as a switch that routed the power to either the mainline route or the diverging route.
While it wasn't obvious, if the points were set for the mainline route, a whole lot more than just the mainline route was electrified. In the bottom half of the photo below, we've traced the electrical polarity in blue and red. Take a look at the red rails. Hard to believe that all of these rails, particularly the point and diverging rails on the diverging route are also powered when the points are set for the mainline route!
If we now throw the points for the diverging route and trace the electrical polarity, we see that a similar situation exists. Notice how the polarity of the points and the inside mainline and inside diverging rails have changed from red to blue!
This how the Peco Electrofrog handles power-routing.
The advent of DCC, however, got rid of the concept of power-routing. Locomotives only moved when we told them to move (via the throttle). When we parked them, they stayed parked, even though there was still power in all the rails. We also added all kinds of track feeds beause we didn't have to worry about power-routing any sidings, particularly around turnouts.
Good DCC wiring practice requires us to have track feeds before the points and track feeds after the frog on both the mainline and diverging routes. Which caused problems with the Peco Electrofrogs. Because the points power-routed the power, and depending on how things were wired, the Electrofrogs shorted things out. Let's take a look at an unmodified Electrofrog and see how this happens.
DCC And Shorting In the Electrofrog
In the photo below, we've added our track power buss and the track feeds before the points and after the frog and set the points for the mainline route. You can see that doing this creates a major short at the frog where the red current on the inside mainline rail crashes into the blue current of the inside diverging rail - electrically speaking, that is.
And if we look at the electrical routing when we set the points for the diverging route, we have the same thing happening - a major electrical short!
How can we get rid of the electrical short in the Electrofrog. Let's take a look at the first of a 4-step process. The mods are simple.
Step 1 - Insulated Rail Joiners After The Frog - Mandatory!!
In addition to adding track feeds before the points and another set after the frog on both the mainline and diverging routes, our first step is to add insulated rail joiners on the inside mainline rail and the inside diverging rail. (If your turnouts are already installed, simply cut gaps in the rails after the frog and fill the gaps with epoxy.)
When we set the points for the mainline route, the points of the Electrofrog continue to power-route the power as before. However, because we've added an insulated rail joiner on the inside diverging rail, we no longer have a short, notwithstanding that both point rails, the straight closure rail and curved closure rail have the same red polarity.
When we set the points for the diverging route, the points of the Electrofrog continue to power-route the power into the diverging route. And, because we've added an insulated rail joiner to the inside mainline rail, we no longer have a short, notwithstanding that both point rails, the straight closure rail and the curved closure rail have the same blue polarity.
As a minimum, if you are using the Peco Electrofrog, you HAVE to install the insulated rail joiners on the inside mainline rail and the inside diverging rail. Or gap these rails and fill the gaps with epoxy or styrene. NO EXCEPTIONS!
We still have the problem, however that the wheels of our locomotives may short out on the point rails. This is especially true for steam locomotives and 6-axle diesels Taking a look at the above two photos, the red point rail shorts out on the mainline blue rail as the loco goes through and the wheels span the gap between the two. OR, the blue point rail shorts out on the red diverging rail as the loco goes through and the wheels span the gap between the two. If you still don't see how this happens, take a look at the graphic below.
To fix this problem, we have to go to Step 2 where we slightly modify the wiring of the Electrofrog.
As we mentioned in our previous post, the Peco Insulfrog is definitely DCC ready right out of the box! We do, however, have a potential shorting problem as the wheels on our locomotive go through the frog. This occurs particularly with 6-axle locomotives and on the Peco Medium and Long Radius Turnouts.
Let's take a look at how this shorting occurs.
As the wheel moves from the mainline or diverging route into the frog and towards the points, the inside diverging rail and the inside mainline rail of the frog get narrower and narrower until they finally terminate in the plastic part of the frog. While this narrowing is not so obvious in our photo below, it is very obvious with the Peco Long.
In the diagram below, as the locomotive wheel travels along the inside diverging rail, it starts to overhang the inside mainline rail.
However, as it gets closer to the tip of the frog, the wheel sometimes crosses the gap between the inside diverging rail and the inside mainline rail. Kazaappp!!! A short occurs and the command station/ booster shuts down. We then have to 0-5-0 our locomotive through the frog until the wheels clear the short.
This can be very frustrating and is usually what leads to the "dissing" of the Peco Insulfrog and its banishment from model railroad clubs.
And yet the fix is very, very simple!!!
Simply take a small mill file or a triangular file and file off the rail between the inside diverging rail and the inside mainline rail up to the plastic part of the frog. I like using a file instead of a Dremel because I can control, take my time and frequently check my progress. The idea here is to file wide and not all that deep. We want to convert the top part of each rail into a point as shown in the diagram below.
Remember, it's not like we're playing dentist here where we have to drill deep into the tooth. We're simply modifying a turnout. Then fill up the space with a bit of epoxy. We don't need a lot. In fact, keep it slightly below the top of the rails.
Voila!! The problem is fixed. A perfectly good DCC-friendly Peco Insulfrog turnout that still picks up the power to the locomotive!
So what's the difference between the Peco Insulfrog and the Peco Electrofrog? Let's take a closer look at the Electrofrog!.
There's been quite a bit of discussion on the merits of the Peco Insulfrog versus the Peco Electrofrog with both the Electrofrog and Insulfrog getting a lot of bad press. All of this "dissing" the Insulfrog and the Electrofrog seems to be coming from commentators who have never closely looked at these two brands of Peco turnout. And new commentators to the scene get their information from previous commentators and so the bad reputation of these two excellent turnouts continues.
Let's take a close look at both the Peco Insulfrog and the Peco Electrofrog so that we get a very clear understanding of how "power routing" takes place on both of these beautiful DCC friendly turnouts.
For those pickers-of-nits, here's a diagram of the real McCoy with all of the naming conventions. In the real world, a turnout is never called a turnout. It's called a switch.
And all of those X's and Y's, Y1's, Y2'x, etc have specific lengths, depending on whether it's a #6, a #8, a #10, etc switch.
Diverging Route and Mainline Route
The three major parts of a switch are the points, diverging route and the mainline route. The train gets through the switch via the frog. The mainline route is that part of the switch that goes straight ahead. The diverging route is that part of the switch that curves. In model railroading, we buy our switches (turnouts) as either left-hand or right-hand. On the real railroad, left-hand or right-hand is irrelevant. The frog is bi-directional. The only thing that determines whether the switch will route trains to the left or to the right is the "bent and curved rails" - the stock rail and the closure rail. To make a bent and curved stock rail, simply take a piece of track, put it in the special clamping device, and close the large bolt. This puts a kink in the rail. Then bend the rail to the right radius. For the curved closure rail, simply bend the rail to the right radius. Of course, if you're working on the prototype, a few hydraulic jacks will greatly help the situation.
But I digress.......
The "Olden" Days Before DCC
Pritchard Patent Product Company Ltd of Beer, Devon, England, introduced the Peco Electrofrog and Insulfrog in the "olden" days before DCC. In those times, power in a siding usually depended on which way the turnout was thrown (mainline route or diverging route) and how the turnout conducted the electricity through the points. It also depended on how the rails beyond the turnout were wired. If you wanted to constantly have power in the siding, then you used the Insulfrog. If you wanted the power turned off in the siding, you used the Electrofrog or a DPDT or SPST switch. Or something like that.
Looking from the top of the turnout, it's difficult to tell the difference between the two. Insulfrog? Or Electrofrog? They both look the same.
And then along came DCC which turned everything upside down on its head. Only we forgot to throw our analog theory books out the window. And so the debate on Insulfrog versus Electrofrog began.
Wiring A Turnout In DCC
In DCC, with few exceptions, electricity is fed to all the tracks - mainline and sidings - because we control our locomotives by a decoder and a throttle and not by the tracks or DPDT switches. That's the major difference between analog and DCC.
So we usually wire our turnouts thus - a pair of track feeds before the points on the turnout (red and blue wires on the left), a pair of track feeds after the switch on the mainline (red and blue wires bottom right), and a pair of track feeds after the switch on the diverging route (red and blue wires top left).
Many commentators do their critique on the Insulfrog or Electrofrog from the workbench and not from the layout. As I found out the hard way, there's a big difference when the turnout is incorporated into the layout!! You can very easily blow your command station/ booster if you don't know the difference.
So, let's trace the wiring of the Peco Insulfrog
Power Routing On The Peco Insulfrog
The power routing on the Peco Insulfrog is very ingenious but very simple. Power through the closure rails and the inside mainline and diverging rails DOES NOT come through the points. In case you missed that I'll restate it another way. Power to the inside and mainline closure rails and the inside mainline and diverging rails DOES NOT come through the points. Unless you haven't followed the rules of DCC for switch wiring and wired your switch differently than stated above. (And I don't recommend doing that!)
Instead, the reverse is true. Given that a welded (soldered) wire bond conducts power better than a mechanical connection (screw terminal, mechanical switch, rail-touching-rail), power to the points and the curved and straight closure rails comes from the inside and mainline diverging rails. In the photo below, with the route selected for the main line, we've shown that path in red and blue, along with arrows indicating the direction of current flow.
And in the photo below, with the points thrown for the diverging route, we've shown that path in red and blue, along with arrows indicating the direction of current flow.
Now take a close look at the two photos and notice the difference in current flow. THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE!!!
And that's the beauty of the Peco Insulfrog. Right out of the box, they are DCC friendly. The points, the straight and curved closure rails, the inside mainline rail and the inside diverging rail are all powered with the correct polarity regardless of which way the turnout is thrown.
"But the Frog Ain't Powered", You Say!
Right away I can hear the screams. "The frog ain't powered!!!" Please take a close look at the frog. It's made out of plastic. It ain't ever going to be powered!!
And if you take an even-closer look at the frog, you'll see that there's two pieces of plastic - about 1/16" in length at the left end of the heel-and-toe of the frog, and another right at the tip of the frog that's about 3/16" in length.
Except for the heel-and-toe of the turnout, all bits and pieces of rail are positively powered. There is, however, that 1/2" gap between those two pieces of plastic. And this is where the power pickup on your locomotive becomes very important. Most diesel locomotives these days pick up power from both trucks. And many steam locos pick up power either from the two trucks in the tender or from several of the driving wheels. So, except for short wheel-base steam locomotives, that 1/2" gap becomes irrelevant.
A Look At The Underside Of The Insulfrog
To understand how power gets from the inside diverging and mainline rails back to the closure rails and points, we have to turn the Insulfrog over on its back. Immediately you will see there are two wire bonds underneath the frog.
If you follow the path of the power in the rails (the red and blue lines), it's these two wire bonds that provide the positive electrical connection from the inside diverging and mainline rails back to the inside closure rails and the points.
Yes, I agree that the point which is in contact with the rail will also conduct electricity, in which case, we have "double" positive connection (That contact actually comes from a phosphor-bronze spring tab at the front end of the point).
So, we have what we are looking for - a reliable power connection that will get our train through the turnout. And the Peco Insulfrog does just that!
There is, however, a little caveat. The wheels of a locomotive will sometimes short out on the inside diverging rail and the inside mainline rail. But that's a very easy fix. We'll cover that in the next issue of our blog.
Here's a couple of handy tools for getting those track feeds through thick Styrofoam mountains. They're made from a couple of coat hangers.
The long drill bit is a piece of coat hanger with the end flattened out with a hammer on a piece of steel (anvil, bench vise, etc). I then cut off the end in a v-shape with a pair of wire cutters. The wire cutters leave a jagged edge on the cutting end that will zip through thick Styrofoam or plaster mountains.
The other problem we face with these deep holes is getting wire through them. This is where the wire threader comes into play. It's made from another coat hanger with the end broadly flattened out. I centre-punch the middle of the flat piece so that my drill bit won't wander and drill a 1/16" hole in the centre. I clean up the burrs on the drill hole and shape the end with a mill file so that it is rounded almost in the shape of the eye of a needle (well, almost like one).
The drill bit and wire threader work in tandem. Once the hole is drilled, I clean out the hole with the wire threader. When the hole is clear, I push the threader through the hole and thread the end of the wire (strip off a bit of insulation) through the eye of the threader. Wrapping the bare wire around itself keeps the wire on the threader. I then pull the threader and wire back down (or up) the hole until it appears on the other side.
Kinda fancy, eh!?
Tie Melting Tool - Getting The "Gap" Out of the Ties
While cutting a rail joiner to half or 2/3rds its normal length will shorten the gap between two pieces of track or a turnout, we still end up with that unsightly gap in the ties. While we might remember to slide a "dummy" tie underneath, more likely than not, we'll forget until it comes time to do the ballasting and then it becomes a pain in the posterior.
If you're into "module railroading", you know that a joiner track connects the track between modules and the rail joiners are supposed to slide completely under the ends of the track on the module. However the rail joiners don't slide so easily - simply because we're butting up against the plastic ties and track spikes. And if the rails terminate in Atlas Snap Track, the rail joiner only slides halfway underneath. While we can lop off the plastic track spikes, we're still left with the plastic ties. In no time flat, we have the ends of the rails popped out of their ties because somebody didn't take the time to gingerly push the rail joiners back into position.
Here's a Tie Melting Tool that, combined with a soldering iron, will remove a lot of those headaches.
We've taken a Rail Joiner Cutting Tool, slid a rail joiner about 1/4th to 1/3rd of the way onto the rail end, and then hit the web of the rail joiner and rail with a centre punch so that the rail joiner won't slide off the end of the rail.
When we're joining two pieces of rail together, we cut the plastic spikes and tie plates off of the last tie on each piece of rail. We then slide the Tie Melting Tool onto the end of the rail and underneath the first tie. We carefully apply our soldering iron to the rail joiner. The soldering iron heats up the Tie Melting Tool which we can then gently press into the softened plastic tie. This makes a depression in the soft plastic. We then quickly pull the Tie Melting Tool out of the rail. We repeat this process on all 4 rails.
Our rail joiner now slides easily underneath the end ties on each piece of rail and we can adjust the spacing between the two pieces of track so that they look more realistic.
Of course, if we shorten the rail joiner, our trackwork will look even more impressive.
Rail Joiner Insertion Tool
My eyes aren't what they used to be and I'm all thumbs when it comes to installing rail joiners onto the end of the rails. Here's a little tool that makes it a lot easier to install those rail joiners.
Take a block of wood 3/4" wide x 11/4" high and about 4" long. Drill a 1/16" hole in one end - 3/8" in the middle and 1/4" from the bottom edge that is about 11/4"" deep. Cut a piece of of Code 100 rail that is 4" long. Tap the rail into the hole in the wooden block. Using a pair of pliers, bend 1/2" of the end of the rail up about 45 degrees. Nip the end of the rail off so that the bent end is about half the length of a rail joiner. Dress the end of the rail with a file (bottom, sides, web and top of the rail) so that a rail joiner easily slides onto the end of the rail. If you find that you don't have enough of the rail joiner sticking out, simply file a bit off the end of the rail.
Voila! A rail joiner insertion tool.
Here's another look at that Rail Joiner Insertion Tool with a rail joiner on the end. (A bit fuzzy but we'll have to fix that up.)
Now that we've got the Rail Joiner Insertion Tool made, let's take a look at its companion.
Rail Joiner Cutting Tool
I find that a full-length rail joiner spoils the effect of good trackwork. The track can be nicely weathered, ballasted so that it resembles the real thing, scenicked to show whether it's mainline track, branchline, or siding. And then we get to see that humongously huge rail joiner.
Here's a little trick I use to hide those rail joiners. I simply cut them in half or in 2/3rds. However, if you use cutters or rail nippers, the two flanges collapse into the joiner which then becomes useless. So, I use the Cutting Tool and an Atlas Snap Saw (a cutoff-disc on a Dremel also works well) to cut the rail joiner to length.
As with the Insertion Tool, the Cutting Tool is simply a block of wood 3/4"x 1 1/2"x 4" with a 1/16" hole drilled in one end. Lightly tap a piece of rail (about 4" long) into the hole until it's securely seated. Dress up the end of the rail with a file so that a rail joiner easily slides onto the end of the rail.
Voila! A Rail Joiner Cutting Tool.
To use the tool, simply slide the rail joiner onto the tool about halfway (or 2/3rds of the way). Place the rail end of the tool and the rail joiner on a block of wood. Using the Atlas Snap Saw, draw the blade backwards (not forward!) across the exposed rail joiner. About a half dozen slices will cut the joiner in two.
However, we have burrs on the cut that will stop the installation of the rail joiner. Push the rail joiner completely onto the rail end of the tool so that the burrs on the cut are pushed out (you may need to use a pair of pliers for that first push). Now, slide the rail joiner forward until the cut is exposed. Trim the burrs and dress the cut end with a file. Re-push the rail joiner back onto the rail, push forward and re-dress. Repeat this process until the rail joiner slides freely on the rail.
Insert the rail joiner onto your track with the Rail Joiner Insertion Tool, cut end first. Why "cut end first"? Because it's easier to slide the cut end onto the track with the Joiner Tool than to insert the other piece of track into the cut end. Or to state the same thing another way - it's easier to slide the other piece of track into the manufactured end of the rail joiner than onto the cut end.
Modifying Rail Joiners For Code-83-to Code-100 Track
Now that you've made the Rail Joiner Cutting Tool, here's a chance to put it to work - making a rail joiner that will fit on both Code 83 and Code 100 track.
I developed this tip when I was considering building my modules with Code 83 track rather than Code 100. I felt that Code 83 would look better than Code 100. However, when I looked at Code 83 turnouts, I didn't like their flimsiness. I preferred the robust construction of the Code 100 turnouts, particularly the Code 100 Peco Insulfrogs. However, there was going to be a problem. There would have been a difference of 17/1,000ths of an inch between the two types of rail (Code 100 - Code 83 = 17/1,000ths). So, I needed a special kind of rail joiner.
I simply used the Rail Joiner Cutting Tool and my Atlas Snap Saw (remember to pull the blade back and not forward!) to cut a slot in the middle of the rail joiner as shown in the photo below. I then installed the rail joiner on the two pieces of track (Code 83 track and Code 100 turnout). Next, I placed a thin flat file under the Code 83 track and pushed down on the Code 100 track until the top of the Code 100 track was level with the Code 83 track. I used a bit of solder, flux, and my soldering iron to solder the rail joiner in place.
Trains go over the joint very smoothly. A well ballasted and scenicked roadbed and you'd never know it was a Code 100 turnout.
If you came in halfway, or haven't seen our first page, click on this link to see How I Build My Model Railroad Modules.
Just for a change of pace, we're going to show you a tip that will make track cleaning very easy.
A few years back, I discovered that Lee Valley Tools sold a 'Rust Eraser" used by gardeners to remove rust from their tools yet doesn't scratch or mar the metal surface. It's softer and more pliable than a "Bright Boy" that we sometimes use for cleaning the tracks. We don't have to have a track cleaning car, a bottle of rubbing alcohol or "Goo Gone". We simply rub the rust eraser along the tracks as we walk around the layout with our train.
I use the fine grit "Rust Eraser" which costs $5.50. Each eraser measures 3 3/16"x 2"x 3/4" which I saw (hacksaw, razor saw, band saw) up into 3 pieces.
Actually "grit" is a misnomer. Unlike sandpaper or a sanding sponge, when I run the rust eraser through my band saw to cut them into 3 pieces, there might be a couple of sparks at most. And, when I look at the track after erasing, there are no nicks, scratches, or cuts on the rail. For cleaning turnouts, I start at the frog and clean the rails back to the points.
Here's what the "Rust Eraser" looks like after I've sliced one into three pieces. .
