Are feeders mandatory around EACH turnout?

[drolmaeye]

I just finished laying the last piece of track on my first layout (L-shaped point-to-point, 11' x 11' x 18", HO scale) and now it's time to wire it up. I have used Atlas code 83 with #6 turnouts (custom line). The turnouts have insulated frogs that feed power through the rails (for example, I can test continuity at any two points on a given rail in the layout and I get a signal). Because it is a switching layout, I have quite a few turnouts (10) over a small area. So, do I really have to have feeders (three sets) for each turnout? Or can I just drop feeders in such a way that at any given point in the layout there is a feeder within, say, five feet?

I have read quite a few opinions during internet search, but I am hoping to hear from people that have tried or operated on layouts that don't hit every turnout (particularly if they have had a problem).

For the sake of completeness, I tested a DC loco with power fed to one end of the layout, and it ran well to the other side (a brief but very satisfying maiden voyage), but I will be using DCC. Also, I have not soldered any rail joiners (except for three flex track joints around curves). I'll use 14 AWG bus, 18 AWG feeders.

Thanks in advance for your advice and/or experience.

 

[jdetray]

First of all, congratulations on completing your track laying and making your first run! Well done!

In my experience, any time you trust an unsoldered rail joiner to carry electrical power, you have a potential source of trouble. I had one location on my layout (a kit-bashed bridge) where it was inconvenient to install feeders. So I relied on rail joiners to supply power to the bridge. You guessed it -- after a couple of years, the only place on the layout with power problems was the bridge. So I had to add feeders.

I'm sure there are plenty of layouts that depend exclusively on rail joiners and never have such problems. But since you asked, I wanted to describe my experience.

- Jeff

 

[Iron Horseman]

I have used Atlas code 83 with #6 turnouts (custom line). .. So, do I really have to have feeders (three sets) for each turnout?

Absolutely not. Where did you hear that?

Or can I just drop feeders in such a way that at any given point in the layout there is a feeder within, say, five feet?

yes.

For the sake of completeness, I tested a DC loco with power fed to one end of the layout, and it ran well to the other side (a brief but very satisfying maiden voyage), but I will be using DCC. Also, I have not soldered any rail joiners (except for three flex track joints around curves). I'll use 14 AWG bus, 18 AWG feeders.

Sounds about like what I did with this one except my bus is 16 gauge and the feeders are probably 20. There is one feeder on each of the rail lines running the length as they are 6' modulars. The track is not connected together at all between modules.

 

[Selector]

You pay as you go in this hobby. Payment comes in many forms. First, you plan. Then you begin to lay track knowing how it should all work. Then, you find otherwise. As problems arise, you have to buy your way around them, through them, over them, and under them. Yes, Peco Streamline and the Atlas Custom-line turnouts are power-routing. Don't be surprised, though, to find that they don't stay that way long. That's why few of us solder them into place unless we are adept at unsoldering, or we just can't get them to work electrically any other way. If you accept that turnouts require the most repairs and replacements of any type of rail apparatus, then it makes sense to make them readily replacable. In my case, I rely on sliding joiners. When the joiners get iffy or intermittent, I either remove them and replace them with new ones, or I slide them back and forth to get better contact, or I solder them. But never for turnouts. I power rails on either side of a turnout, and I find I have to gap between turnouts as often as not. The power-routing feature quits after a while. I could remove the turnout and repair the wiping surfaces and reinstall them, or I could just swap in a new turnout. Or, I could leave well enough alone because the throwbar and points still work, and the turnout lies in such a way that it is smooth in operations at any speed or in any direction. If I want to leave it alone, I know I may have to get out the soldering stuff and some feeder wire and spend 10 minutes fixing power to what will otherwise remain an electrically dead expanse of rail.