This is the stage I am at - at the moment!

I am using Peco solenoids because I have found them to be reliable in the past - no other reason. I will have to confine them to Phase 1 though so the 'clunk' noise and snappy action is kept well away from the viewing public. This also means that I won't be able to use them in the staging yard for Phase 3 as that will be located on the scenic boards so although they won't be seen, the noise will still be a pollute what I am trying to achieve.

As I'm using PECO electro-frog turnouts, an auxiliary electrical switch isn't strictly required to switch frog polarities as the switch blades switch the polarity. [This is only possible because I have isolated the roads from the pointwork - otherwise any locos in the sidings would short on a DCC layout]. However, experience has shown (in the relatively short time I have been using N-scale PECO track, that dirt easily accumulates between the stock rails and the switch blades thereby preventin a good electrical contact. Also, one of the switches seems to have less pressure in the springing mechanism which is preventing any kind of electrical contact. I have therefore decided not to rely on the switch blades to make a good electrical contact but to use a switch mounted on the point motor.

I wonder if there would be a similar problem if I were using Tortoise stall-type point motors where I would have to remove the springing mechanism and the point motors is continually pushing the switch blade against the stock rail.

Similarly, because I am intending to put a fail-safe mechanism in the staging yard to prevent trains being run out of sidings when the turnouts are set against them, another auxiliary electrical switch will also be required. I will have to check and see if it is possible to do this virtually in Railroad & Co. - I should think that there will be logic control possibilities. As I say, this is a steep learning curve for me.

By the time a double pole electrical switch has been purchased, this makes the Peco point motor an expensive option when compared to the Tortoise stall-type motors. The truth is though that with so many learning curves for me on this layout, I wanted to get something up and running relatively quickly and so I stuck with something that I was already familiar with (for Phase 1).

Frog (Crossing V) Polarity Switching

	Diagram showing wiring of track feed at turnouts: frog / crossing v only. In a ladder, the stock rails will often be part of the frog / v of the preceding turnout.

This is very conventional. The frog / crossing-v is switched from the two stock (outside) rails - see diagram. With PECO electrofrog turnouts, there is not actually a need to switch the polarity by way of an additional switch on the point motor as the swicth blades form an extension of the frog (vee). When the blades are switched, they push up against one or other of the stock rails and thereby take current from that stock rail energising the frog. However, because of the possibility for the accumulation of dirt, I will be using an additional switch attached to the point motor as a back up for exhibitions. Un-necessary but I think of it as a type of insurance policy providing peace of mind at exhibitions.

The other aspect to this is that should it prove necessary to isolate the switch blades from the frogs because the backs of the wheels make contact with the switch blades and cause a short circuit - the frogs will already have been wired.

Staging Yard Fail-safe Wiring

	Diagram showing wiring of track feeds at turnouts: two swotches required for the crossing v polarity and the failsafe mechanism Note: there is also an isolation gap in the bottom stock rail but for reasons of clarity, this is not shown. An isolation gap is only required here if the stock rail is directly linked to a frog, where the stock rail in effect, is part of the frog of the preceding turnout. Where this is the case, the polarity of the stock rail is subject to change. This will therefore short a DCC equipped loco. Non-DCC locos would simply be isolated as a result of the short.

This too is conventional, just uses a secondary auxiliary SPDT switch on the point motor and three extra wires. In effect, the switch simply cuts power (which would otherwise be direct from the 'black' track bus) to one of the two 'amber' rails depending on which way the turnout is thrown. The diagram shows the wiring, simplified for one turnout. However, it is is quite easily wired into a full ladder formation; DCC projects and Applications shows exactly how to do it.