# DCC and turnouts, whats the deal.



## ftauss (Sep 18, 2012)

I see a fair amount of commentary on this. What are the issues?

Frank


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## D&J Railroad (Oct 4, 2013)

Not sure. What kind of hat are ya wearing?


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## ftauss (Sep 18, 2012)

D&J Railroad said:


> Not sure. What kind of hat are ya wearing?


Funny. I suppose you never make typos.


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## traction fan (Oct 5, 2014)

*DCC "friendly", "compatible", Etc. turnouts*



ftauss said:


> I see a fair amount of commentary on this. What are the issues?
> 
> Frank


 Frank;

Many manufacturers are advertising their turnouts as "DCC compatible", "DCC friendly" and other such language.
While any turnout can work with DCC (or DC) the turnouts with electrically "isolated frogs", their two point rails insulated from each other, and each point rail electrically connected to it's adjacent stock rail are considered "DCC compatible" turnouts.
More and more turnouts are coming with this electrical configuration built-in. Some have jumpers that give you the option of setting the turnout up this way.
You are right that there is a lot of commentary on these turnouts. Many have asked questions similar to yours, about turnout types in general, and DCC compatibility. This has come up often enough that I've written a file on the subject. It is attached below.

Happy reading.

Traction Fan:smilie_daumenpos:

View attachment All AboutTurnouts rev-3.pdf


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## ftauss (Sep 18, 2012)

traction fan said:


> Frank;
> 
> Many manufacturers are advertising their turnouts as "DCC compatible", "DCC friendly" and other such language.
> While any turnout can work with DCC (or DC) the turnouts with electrically "isolated frogs", their two point rails insulated from each other, and each point rail electrically connected to it's adjacent stock rail are considered "DCC compatible" turnouts.
> ...


Well thank you. I did a web search on this and that is pretty much what I understand. I was scratching my head because it didn't seem to me switches could not be DCC friendly but this does clarify the point.

I downloaded your PDF and am going to read through it.

Thank you.
Frank


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