Skip to main content

Hi Everyone....

I was over at a friend's house helping him diagnose a ground continuity problem across a Ross switch.

We think we finally traced the problem down to a wire bridge he soldered in place between the switch's outer rail and the switch point.

Adding to the complexity of this problem; the points on the Ross switch appear to be made of aluminum but the rest of the rails of the switch are made of steel.

Do any of you have a solution where a secure electrical connection can be made between the switch's steel rail and the aluminum switch points (soldering is obviously out of the question; at least not to aluminum).

I have no real experience with Ross switches; but I was thrilled to help at least diagnose the problem.

Hope you all can help.

Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

Here is the Ross webpage for technical information. You click on the switch you are working with.

http://rossswitches.com/Technical.aspx

You can also email Steve Ross at
steve@rossswitches.com

with any questions. He has helped me several times.

I have attached just one switch's technical information from this site so you can see what is available.

rcsprem

Attachments

Images (1)
  • rcsprem
Last edited by MED

The points or the frog? The points are the hinged rails that move. They dont need electrical connections. The frog (the part where the rails merge in an 'X')  is aluminum on older ross switches and is also typically left electrically dead. The new Ross switches uses a delrin frog. The closure rails (the rails between the points and the frog), should be insulated from the frog, and should also be electrically dead, since the pickup roller has to cross over one of them as the train passes. If you've wired up the closure rails, thats your short circuit. The center rails should all be tied together, and the outermost 2 rails (that dont pass through the frog) should be wired together. Thats all you need for the switch to run.

If you have an exceptionally long switch, #6 or longer, then you need to use a relay as detailed above to energize the closure rails in the direction the switch is thrown (posted above).

Last edited by Boilermaker1

Add Reply

Post

OGR Publishing, Inc., 1310 Eastside Centre Ct, Ste 6, Mountain Home, AR 72653
800-980-OGRR (6477)
www.ogaugerr.com

×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×
×