After receiving copious amounts of help from the group, I said I would report back on how it turned out with my double crossover wiring issues.
Briefly, my problem was that I was having locomotives stall when passing through the isolated frogs on my double crossover (DCC track). The problem was that the frogs are isolated and not powered, so the locomotives with short wheel bases would stall when the wheels lined up with the unpowered frogs. There is a solution through all sorts of complicated wiring schemes through the switch motors and through toggle switches to throw only two switches at a time, but I wanted to throw all 4 switches with a single toggle and felt really overwhelmed by the wiring schemes, so I went with the "easy' solution.
At the direction of a group member, I purchased a "Hex Frog Juicer". I hooked it up this weekend and it was a snap. Two wires from the DCC bus to the Juicer circuit board, then 4 wires, one feeder from each of the frogs, to the board. It is GREAT! I can now run all my locomotives through the double crossover in any route at any speed down to an absolute crawl with no interruptions in sound or operation of any kind. The board automatically switches the frogs to the correct polarities and does it so fast that you never even know it is happening. I am a happy camper now!
I have now finished my goals for the winter having gotten all the benchwork, incline installation, track laying and wiring done for the layout. I can now run 5 locomotives on DCC and all trains run without any derailment or operational issues. I can't thank the group enough for all the assistance and support. I'll no doubt have more questions down the road, but I am FAR beyond what I thought I was capable of doing when I started. Thank you!
Hopefully, in addition to continuing to mine the group members for their vast knowledge, I'll be able to contribute to the group in a meaningful way going forward. I will certainly read all the threads in hopes that at some point I can help others.
Jeff
Briefly, my problem was that I was having locomotives stall when passing through the isolated frogs on my double crossover (DCC track). The problem was that the frogs are isolated and not powered, so the locomotives with short wheel bases would stall when the wheels lined up with the unpowered frogs. There is a solution through all sorts of complicated wiring schemes through the switch motors and through toggle switches to throw only two switches at a time, but I wanted to throw all 4 switches with a single toggle and felt really overwhelmed by the wiring schemes, so I went with the "easy' solution.
At the direction of a group member, I purchased a "Hex Frog Juicer". I hooked it up this weekend and it was a snap. Two wires from the DCC bus to the Juicer circuit board, then 4 wires, one feeder from each of the frogs, to the board. It is GREAT! I can now run all my locomotives through the double crossover in any route at any speed down to an absolute crawl with no interruptions in sound or operation of any kind. The board automatically switches the frogs to the correct polarities and does it so fast that you never even know it is happening. I am a happy camper now!
I have now finished my goals for the winter having gotten all the benchwork, incline installation, track laying and wiring done for the layout. I can now run 5 locomotives on DCC and all trains run without any derailment or operational issues. I can't thank the group enough for all the assistance and support. I'll no doubt have more questions down the road, but I am FAR beyond what I thought I was capable of doing when I started. Thank you!
Hopefully, in addition to continuing to mine the group members for their vast knowledge, I'll be able to contribute to the group in a meaningful way going forward. I will certainly read all the threads in hopes that at some point I can help others.
Jeff
