Isolating tracks on a Fastrack 22.5 degree crossover

These 22.5 crossovers come new with 4x removable 1 3/8" Half-roadbed sections attached at each end.  Just like the regular FasTrack 1 3/8" pieces, there is a removable jumper underneath.

If you want more isolation than those offer, it's easy enough to selectively detach the X shaped buss underneath connecting the center rails thru the crossover.

OK, thank you very much. Mine doesn't have that and I think it may be an older version. Can you tell me what the part number of the latest 22.5 degree crossover with the jumper wires is? thank again for the help

You're welcome.  Mine are Lionel FasTrack 6-12050 22-1/2 Degree Crossover.

What is the part number on yours?

@ChooChoo1972 are you sure you're talking about the 22.5 and not the 45? The 22.5 crossover has the 1 3/8" sections that @SteveH mentioned but the 45 does not

@Mike0289 posted:

@ChooChoo1972 ...The 22.5 crossover has the 1 3/8" sections that @SteveH mentioned but the 45 does not

This is true that the only crossover which includes the removable 1-3/8" half roadbed sections is the 22.5.

However, both the 45 degree (6-12051) and 90 degree (6-12019) FasTrack Crossovers also have the X center rail connections buss that can be selectively disconnected.  One can also add the (sold separately) 1-3/8" (6-12073) full roadbed straight sections with the removable isolation jumpers to the ends of 45 and 90 crossovers to isolate the intersecting tracks' power.

Thanks, I'll either get the newer version or I'll just get some of the add on sections.

I had no idea they made a 22.5 fastrack crossover without the extensions. Learned something new!

@ChooChoo1972 posted:

...Mine doesn't have that and I think it may be an older version.

Frank, I'm curious about your older 22.5 FasTrack crossover.  Would you please provide the model number and/or pictures of it top and bottom?

Sure, will do some photography this weekend.

Try as I may but I just couldn't get a clear picture of the track piece I had, but I just ordered a new one.

So with the short filler pieces on all four ends of the cross over having wires on the center railthat I can cut if I cut all four the crossover will be totally isolated. What is the best means of powering the crossover? Should it just have constant power all the time? I am going to use it for two bump and go trolley lines that will cross eachother. thanks

Frank, to best answer your questions, I would first need to understand how you plan to coordinate the two bump and go trolleys so that they don't collide at the crossover.

Do you want to be able to set the trolleys so that they just automatically run back and forth or do you plan to continually monitor and adjust their speeds independently to avoid collision?

From another of your recent posts, you asked about the spade connectors to use underneath FasTrack.  The jumpers under the 1-3/8" half-roadbed sections connected to the 4 ends of the 22.5 degree crossovers have the same types of spade connectors.  In the picture below you'll see the one on the left has been completely removed.  In it's place there is the type of female connector recommended in the other topic, which can also be used to power that side of the crossover (or more depending on how you modify the crossover's power buss, more on that later).

You'll also note that this spade connector (with the orange wire) doesn't lie flat against the track because of the blue insulating sleeve and because of it's proximity towards the other crossover path; the side of the 1-3/8" extension without the roadbed. The Purple wire on the right does lie flat because the spade connector to which it's attached, points towards the beveled roadbed.  If you plan to power the whole crossover as one unit, then this doesn't matter, because you can power the whole thing with one wire plugged into the position where the purple wire is in the picture below.

If you plan to power the two internal crossover paths independently, there are several ways to work around the issue of the protruding connector (orange wire position) from easiest to hardest: 1) pull off the blue (or red) sleeve from the female connector before you attach it to the wire; 2) cut one of the stock jumpers in half and splice the power feed into one of these halves. 3) bend up the dogeared rail tabs 90 degrees, remove and rotate the little plate  with the male spade connector 180 degrees and put it back in place pointing towards the beveled roadbed and bend the rail tabs back down while applying pressure to the top side of the rail.

The 1-3/8" removable jumpers allow you to selectively isolate the crossover in whole or in part from the tracks leading into and out of it.  To modify the crossover's internal center rail power buss, first you need to decide which of the 5 parts of the Crossover you want to isolate from each other  keeping in mind that they will all need power and that the frog will need power from at least one or more rail sections.  The 5 parts include the 4 center rails leading to the center, and the cast metal piece a the very center of the crossover known as the frog.  In the next picture you can see this X shaped center rail internal power buss.  You may or may not want to modify this.  You could either wire the entire crossover as in independent block or electrically fed by one of the connected paths, without the need for buss modification.  But this might depend on the answers to those first questions I asked in this reply about trolley control and collision avoidance.

If you have more questions about crossover power buss modifications for your specific goals, we can talk about that more, after you provide more details about your trolley control plans.

SteveH