DCC Currents
The new Walthers turnouts are here
The new Walthers turnouts are here, and they’re worth your wait. The new turnouts ❶ include additional features that make them worthy of consideration for use on your layout. In addition, installation instructions are better, too. You no longer have to do things to your turnouts to make them useful, and you don’t need a lot of electrical knowledge to wire them up. I was impressed that the instructions also told you how to make sure frog polarity is right if you choose to power it.
Like their predecessors, the latest generation of turnouts is DCC friendly. Turnouts that are DCC friendly minimize the possibility of a short shutting down part of your railroad due to metal wheels contacting adjacent rails that are at a different polarity. See wiring fordcc.com/switches.htm for more on DCC-friendly turnouts.
Walthers has always had a large selection of turnouts and included offerings not made by anyone else. The new Walthers Track line is available in code 83 and code 100. While the full offering isn’t yet out, the package for the code 83 indicates that the line will include turnouts from no. 4 to no. 10, a no. 6 double crossover, and curved turnouts in 20"/24" and 24"/28" sizes. The website shows that Code 100 will cover no. 4 to no. 6 turnouts. Check out the Walthers website at walthers.com/catalogsearch/ result/?q=948-+Turnout to see what is currently available.
Helpful features. The nickelsilver alloy used by Walthers is silver in color for those who want a more realistic-looking railhead. The thin-profile ties are brown with a wood-grain texture. Holes for track nails are started on the back side of the ties, but don’t go all the way through. Just drill out the ones you want to use.
A number of features make wiring this turnout simpler and quicker. The frog rails are internally connected to the stock rails ❷. The closure rails are internally connected to the stock rails, as well. Another very desirable feature is that the closure rails and point rails are all one piece – no point hinges to cause long-term conductivity problems. If you don’t power the frog, all you need to do is attach a feeder from each stock rail to your track bus and you’re in business. Minimal soldering means you’re less likely to damage your turnout and knock it out of gauge. Nice!
Probably the riskiest soldering operation on a turnout is powering the frog. Walthers helps you out here, as well, and eliminates this risk for you. The turnout features a terminal that sticks out the side ❶ to which you can solder a feeder wire. This keeps the heat away from the frog and keeps your turnout in gauge. When done, you might gently bend it down, or you can paint it brown or gray to hide it in your ballast.
Of course, there’s the age-old question, do you need to power your frog? If all your locomotives have stay-alive circuits, have all or many-wheel pickup, or long wheelbases, maybe you don’t need to. With the terminal sticking out the side of the turnout, this is a decision you can easily put off until you see if you have any problems with your locomotive fleet.
Not to be outdone by the competition, the switch rod features a spring to hold the points against the stock rail. If you’re using a switch machine that provides the holding pressure for you, you will want to remove the spring. The instructions tell you how to remove the cover on the back and take out the spring.
Bigger is better. One thing that caught my eye when I opened the package was the length of the new Walthers turnouts. A Walthers no. 6 is 113 ⁄8" long, vs. a Peco no. 6 at 93 ⁄16". But don’t panic; this story has a happy ending!
Look carefully at the comparison photo ❸. The features of the two turnouts are essentially the same length, as they should be, except for the length of the frog rails. The frog rails on the Walthers
THE NEW TURNOUTS INCLUDE FEATURES THAT MAKE THEM WORTHY OF CONSIDERATION FOR YOUR LAYOUT. – ALLAN
turnout (top) are approximately twice as long. So yes, if you want to shorten the turnout by cutting the frog rails, you can do that. The Walthers instructions talk about that. [Also see Rehab My Railroad in the October 2021 issue of MR. – Ed.] The only thing to watch for is that if you shorten the turnout too much, you’ll remove the bonds and will have to attach feeders to the now isolated frog rails or get power from the connected track.
Here’s the real advantage of the longer frog rails. Have you ever had several turnouts close together and needed to add a tiny piece of track to connect them? Your eyes should be getting wide right now. Now you no longer need to add those tiny pieces of connecting track or the feeders for them!
The switch rod is thicker than the ties. Having worked with turnouts with delicate switch rods that couldn’t be repaired, I’m not bothered by these husky switch rods. If you want, you can paint them with some gray stripes to make them blend in with the ballast and appear narrower.
The new turnouts give us options we’ve never had before. These turnouts should be a welcome addition to your layout. Welcome back to the turnout game, Walthers!
For the web links that appear in this column, bookmark WiringForDCC.com/ dcc_currents.htm.
Q I will have a rather large DCC reverse loop that will have other locomotives doing switching within the loop. In fact, that loop and the trackage within it will make up more than half the layout. Will there be any effects on those locomotives within the loop when another one enters and/or leaves the loop? Richard Reitz
Vestal, N.Y.
A DCC locomotives are insensitive to polarity of the track power. You won’t notice any problem to locomotives within a reversing section when another one enters or exits the reversing loop. You just can’t have locomotives entering and exiting two different entrances of a reversing loop at the same time.
Q Atlas has published an excellent wiring diagram showing how to create an interlocking connection between its two-headed signal and an Atlas switch motor. I want to substitute a Tortoise by Circuitron switch motor for the Atlas switch motor, but don’t want to proceed until I have a clear understanding of how to wire the Tortoise to the Atlas control boards. On a number of schematics I’ve seen showing
Tortoises connected to signals, the schematic shows a resistor between the signal and Tortoise. Among other things, I suspect that in-line resistors may be required, but have no idea of what type.
Bill Wilken Granville, Ohio
A I reviewed the Atlas schematic you supplied and also went to the Atlas website to learn a little bit about the Atlas Signal Control Board (SCB). I found that it doesn’t control the Atlas switch machine or Tortoise as you desire. Rather, the Atlas switch machine or a Tortoise provides input to it. For more on the Atlas SCB, go to the Atlas website at download. atlasrr.com/pdf/Instructions/ Atlas Model Signal Manual. pdf and shop.atlasrr.com/ t-manuals.aspx.
You can control the Tortoise with DCC via an accessory decoder, like those made by NCE or Digitrax, or through any traditional means. For more on controlling Tortoise by Circuitron switch machines, visit my website at wiringfordcc.com/ sw_ctl.htm.
Q Years ago I purchased a PECO 3-way turnout. The original packaging and its wiring diagram is long gone. I have no idea if it is an Electrofrog or an Insulfrog. How can I tell the difference so I can wire it correctly?
Jerry Parr Littleton, Colo.
A I have pictures of the frogs of both kinds of turnouts on my website at wiringfordcc.com/switches_peco. htm#a8.