Powered Frog?

Powering the frog on a turnout is nice as if you are using solid point to frog rails, the mechanical contact of the point may not happen on occasion and the additional help of the switch insures that the trains run well. If you cut the rail between the frog and the point, you need to have some method of putting power to the frog in this case and the switch does this well. The purpose of cutting the closure rail is to allow a better looking gap between the point and the stock rail and not have electrical shorting from the backside of the wheels hitting the open point and shorting to that opposite polarity that happens with the solid rail version.

-- Bob May Losing weight is easy! If you ever want to lose weight, eat and drink less. Works evevery time it is tried!

Use a piece of springy wire in an omega loop - shaped like the Greek letter.

-------- / \ \ /

------ --------- This absorbs the excess throw. If you use a slider switch you can drill a hole throgh the plastic bit you slide, and use that to fix one end of the wire.

If you use live frogs (eg Peco electrofrog) then you need to switch the power at the frog according to the direction the turnout is set. If you think about it, with one rail plus and the other minus, then the frog needs to be connected to the different rails at the toe end of the turnout, depending on which route is selected.

Live frogs are always better than insulated, because the engibne always stops on the dead bit.

=> In N scale, are there =>clearance problems created by the distance the DPDT switch travels (i.e. it =>travels farther than the switch points move and therefore cannot close the =>circuit)? Are there any sites with diagrams of how a typical installation in =>N might go (I am using woodland senics' foam subroadbed, so I would assume I =>would have to attach the

You need an "omega loop" to take up the over-throw of the switch. Get a size switch whose throw is close to but slightly larger than the one needed. (The loop looks like the letter omega.)

=>Also, it mentions using them to power the frog. I am unclear as to why or =>why not one would want to do this...what does this accomplish, and what are =>the benefits/disadvantages (using conventional cab/clock control, BTW)?

A powered frog reduces the odds that a locomotive will stall. Use one side the the DPDT switch to power the frog, the other side to power signals or control panel lights.

HTH&GL

My assumption (probably wrong at the present but that may change in the future when the guy learns how to lay rail for dirt cheap) was that he was handlaying rail and in that circumstance, the seperate powering of the frog really helps with train operation.

-- Bob May Losing weight is easy! If you ever want to lose weight, eat and drink less. Works evevery time it is tried!