Does anyone know if the tracks are electrically isolated on a FasTrack 45° crossover? 6-12051
I suspect that they are not. I want to crossover a separate power district.
I haven't looked at the bottom of one to determine if I can isolate the two tracks.
Anyone have any insight or experience with this?
Thanks.
Replies sorted oldest to newest
They are not isolated, but are easily modified(and restored) with hand tools by removing the "X" jumper from the bottom.
very easy to do, just remember to add electric tape to cover the wires so you don't short out
No wires on these.
There is one extra step on these as the center rail "x" is powered - you need to power it with one of the routes using a washer, a piece of wire, and reusing the center screw w/o the bottom "X" jumper.
Thanks, Rob. Been working a b-ball game.
I think I can leave the X unpowered as my locos and lighted cars have double rollers. That's where I thought the bridging would occur.
We'll see.
Just keep the topside "x" screwed in then so the rollers don't drop into the center.
Could you elaborate for me on how to isolated the 45 degree cross for me? I understand i remove the pin and jump the centers on the bottom. I am confused on the top. Do I need to cut the track to isolate the top x (cut along the red lines?) or just leave it alone (and if so, which track is the lead). Thanks. Dave
No cutting needed, but if you don't power it with one of the cross routes, you will have some locos stall on the dead spot.
does it matter which one?
Triumphgt6Dave posted:does it matter which one?
Not to us, but it might matter to you. As long as anything you run has a pickup span greater than the distance between the two red arrows, you shouldn't necessarily have to power that center section from either rail.
I was going to reply the same - it only matters to you.
With the old-style crossings the entire diamond section was dead to prevent center-rail rollers from shorting to the running rails and vice versa. The dead sections aren't a problem as long as you have two center-rail pickups both working well and not too close together. It would be an issue with shallower crossing angles which would create a longer diamond section.
In this FasTrack crossing pic the yellow-colored running rails are all dead, otherwise the center-rail pickups could short to the running rails. Like the 020x crossings, this can be a problem for some 4-wheel locos, especially if they have a traction tire and if they don't sit square on all four wheels and if rails aren't too clean. Point being, it's not just the dead section of center rail that might be an issue - the running rails are dead for that part also.
Last pic shows a home-made 67-degree crossing made from a solid hunk of plastic. The entire diamond portion is non-conductive and trains run OK. (The yellowed plastic is showing where the wheels wore through the gray paint .)
So for the original question, minor modification can isolate the FasTrack routes and the center-rail portion inside the diamond can be left dead and will probably not be a problem. Apologies for any redundancies to the previous posts.
Just to follow up, I left the center "X" dead. I have had no issues. it's on a part where I am usually running. However, my grandson has a knack for stopping the LionChief PE just on the perfect spacing of the yellow rails indicated in photo that ACE marked, which means the stick has to come out for a nudging device. One notch past the first with 5 cars is enough throttle for it roll over the dead spot. He can stop it there.
I have had no bridging on that or the one that I used for a custom made 4-way cross with 4 O72 switches. I cut the roadbed back on the cross to fit like the small half-roadbed fitters to reduce the resulting center rail spacing down to 8 1/2". Same wiring. remove the metal connector and jumper the center rail.
Access to this requires an OGR Forum Supporting Membership
