02-08-2011, 12:59 AM
Justin;
To answer your question about wheels causing a short as they cross the gap, the answer is no, unless you had metal wheels and axles that weren't insulated. Of course in that case, you'd have shorts every where.
The purpose of the gap or insulated joints is only to prevent a short in the frog that would result from power coming from the diverging track.
Probably better diagrams on the 'Net, but looking at this you can see where the short occurs without preventing the diverging routes from powering the rails. Believe me - just putting insulated joints or gaps in the two rails shown in the other diagram works just fine.
To answer your question about wheels causing a short as they cross the gap, the answer is no, unless you had metal wheels and axles that weren't insulated. Of course in that case, you'd have shorts every where.
The purpose of the gap or insulated joints is only to prevent a short in the frog that would result from power coming from the diverging track.
Probably better diagrams on the 'Net, but looking at this you can see where the short occurs without preventing the diverging routes from powering the rails. Believe me - just putting insulated joints or gaps in the two rails shown in the other diagram works just fine.
Ed
"Friends don't let friends build Timesavers"
"Friends don't let friends build Timesavers"