# Isolating/insulating a handlaid crossing



## broox (Apr 13, 2012)

Hi, this is one for the experts 


I'm throwing this up here so it gets done right, and also it is easier on my brain.

I hand laid a dual curved crossing/diamond the other week. And I'm almost ready to install it... But where do I cut to isolate it?

It'll be running with DCC too, ta 

Front









Back










Links to bigger pics if you need more detail / want to edit it. Cheers
http://i.imgur.com/dEKduhD.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/sbBEOKO.jpg


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## The New Guy (Mar 11, 2012)

That there is well beyond my pay grade.

That's inverted rail that you've soldered to, no?


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## JerryH (Nov 18, 2012)

I think you did a beautiful job. BUT, you will have a lot of trouble making it work electrically. Most types of that construction are done on circuit boards with the connection and isolation etched on the board. The gapped rails are then soldered to the board. Good luck.


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## broox (Apr 13, 2012)

Yeah its inverted rail. I figure I can de solder and epoxy some wood/plastic ties if it will cause a big problem.

Thanks for the comments 

It wasn't as hard as I thought either. I took about 30 photos along the way, I'll pop it up in another thread perhaps, if theres intrest.


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## broox (Apr 13, 2012)

any suggestions? i'll be headed to the old mans today some time. 

cheers


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## broox (Apr 13, 2012)

Ok, so I figure the best option will be to cut like this, and use an auto reverse module to change polarity of the frog (right term?)











I'll replace the inverted rail ties with some wooden ones epoxied into place to keep it square. Sound like a good plan?
I figure it beats making a bunch of super accurate cuts to isolate individual rails...

Thoughts?


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## JerryH (Nov 18, 2012)

I think all 4 junctions need to be dead. The short rails in the middle need to be fed power from corresponding rails.


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## broox (Apr 13, 2012)

isnt that what my diagram shows?

or is there a less complex way to do it?


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## JerryH (Nov 18, 2012)

Your diagram has only 2 corners dead instead of all 4.


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## broox (Apr 13, 2012)

Wouldnt it be redundant to isolate the other 2 corners?

Blue and red indicate rail a and rail b, as it would be with my layout. I'm not seeing the reasoning for isolating the other rails... Am I missing something? This is my first time doing something so advanced 

I havent made any cuts yet.


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## JerryH (Nov 18, 2012)

I think you will have shorting with only 2. All the commercial units gap all 4 *including* the guard rails.


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## broox (Apr 13, 2012)

yeah, I get that, the store bought one I had before was like that. 
But a commercial crossing could be installed in any orientation, and if it was with dc it might have been for a totally seperate loop / polarity shifting on either rail depending on blocking setups.

But this will be for DCC, and only installed in this orientation, due to curve radius and track length on each leg.

I think, from my understanding, this will be under control.



Oh. one other thing I just thought about, which may influence how I skin this cat... 
I have to check the length of my longest loco / powered unit / lighted cars... the upper left leg leads to a reverse loop section. I better make sure the length of the powered units will clear the auto reverse section of the crossing, before entering the next auto reverse section on the mainline. 
I'm thinking that it would be bad to have each axle on a different reverse section at the same time!


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## broox (Apr 13, 2012)

Long time, no progress 

At the weekend I had a crack at this junction again... 
Pretty much was still at this stage but I'd replaced the soldered rail with glued on matchsticks

I cut with a dremel across the corners, like so









Then cut down some spare ties, inserted to the gap, and superglued from the outside.

Once dry, I rad a dremel disk down the inner face of the rail to make sure the groove was clear of plastic in both directions.

and a quick test






I did a quick electrical test too, no shorts!

Next I painted the matchstick ties to match the others (just a acrylic black)
And once dry, laid some ballast + glue so it'd stay in place.

But I forgot to take pick of that new stuff. doh!
Will get a close up for ya next time I'm at my folks.

Was good to get back to the layout


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

Do you have electrical conductivity of the N/S rails, to the
diamond rails, then on to the rails beyond the 2nd frog? The
same with the E/W rails? 

Do your locos run through it on both tracks without
blinking or stalling?

What material are you suing for the 'frogs' (where the rails
cross)?

You need the diamond rails 'hot' so your locos won't stall
going through.

You did a beautiful job constructing that crossing. It's not
something most of us would attempt.

Don


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## Rusty (Jun 23, 2011)

Nice work but easy way to buy the ho peco crossing track about $16.

PECO - PPCSL93 - HO CODE 100 INSULFROG 24 DEGREE CROSSING


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*Insulating gaps*

Broox;

Basically, you treat the two tracks running through the crossing like any other track;if laid with PC board ties. Cut a notch between the two running rails of each route. The frogs should end up isolated from all other rails. I prefer to make my complex track work on one large PC board to keep everything in alignment. Electrically though, you could use the same center of each track cuts without the PC board as long as the rails were securely fastened down to something that didn't short them to each other.(wood ties?) 

Here's how I made mine. NOTE; this wye/crossing isn't done yet so I haven't yet cut the gaps
in it. On other crossings I've built, the gaps run right down the center of each track. The gaps go right through guard rails and anything else that could cause a short. You'll be left with four isolated quadrants. Any given one of these will sometimes electrically be part of route A and sometimes part of route B. Electrical switching will be needed for all four quadrants. I had turnouts that directed trains into each of the crossing's routes, and used the contacts of their switch machines to switch the power where it was needed.

Good Luck;

Traction Fan


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## broox (Apr 13, 2012)

Please excuse my laziness ( I just realised there is over 2 years from the first post to this recent update!)

Yeah I cut through the the rail and guard rails leaving a good gap of 2-3mm at all 8 marked points. there should be just enough isolation to not cause a short with a loco rolling thru, and enough live rail there that it should not stall out. I'll take a close up when I'm there next to show what I mean.

The plastic rail ties were leftover from the flex track I'd been cutting. I didn't have any styrene sheet laying around, that was my first thought.


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