RMweb Premium figworthy Posted April 27, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 27, 2012 I'm in the process of building my first turnout, and I'm wondering what the best way of electrically bonding the stock and switch rails is. How are other people doing it ? Adrian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grovenor Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 What is your turnout made of? If you use copperclad sleepers the bonding looks after itself, if they are wood or plastic then you need to model the switch ties, just use a piece pof strip from scrap etch or a bit of flattened copper wire, bend to fit between the rails and solder in place. Regards Keith Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium figworthy Posted April 28, 2012 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted April 28, 2012 What is your turnout made of? If you use copperclad sleepers the bonding looks after itself, if they are wood or plastic then you need to model the switch ties, just use a piece pof strip from scrap etch or a bit of flattened copper wire, bend to fit between the rails and solder in place. Regards Keith Thanks Keith. Sleepers are plastic (currently), possibly wood in the future. Looks like a copper loop (which should hide in the ballast) is the favoured solution. Adrian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Freeman Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 Remember that REA turnouts would have normally have what are called switch anchors (search on Templot Group etc for photos). You can use short bits of strip/wire to simulate these and provide the bonding at the same time! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium jamie92208 Posted May 3, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted May 3, 2012 I put a dropper under each rail and link them under the baseboard. Jamie Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayfield Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 I use brass hand rail wire, putting a loop in is a good idea though Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grovenor Posted May 11, 2012 Share Posted May 11, 2012 Sleepers are plastic (currently), possibly wood in the future. I would go for the switch anchors as Steven says (same as i meant by switch ties) you will have to be careful soldering with plastic sleepers/chairs, but that is the same if you solder droppers or wire loops. I use a bit of 0.5mm copper wire, hammer it so it becomes a strip about 1mm wide then it can be bent to shape and soldered in. You can see the switch anchors at the right hand side of this diagram. The diagonal straps between stock rail and switch. Regards Keith Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium figworthy Posted May 11, 2012 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted May 11, 2012 I would go for the switch anchors as Steven says (same as i meant by switch ties) you will have to be careful soldering with plastic sleepers/chairs, but that is the same if you solder droppers or wire loops. I use a bit of 0.5mm copper wire, hammer it so it becomes a strip about 1mm wide then it can be bent to shape and soldered in. You can see the switch anchors at the right hand side of this diagram. The diagonal straps between stock rail and switch. Regards Keith Thanks Keith, a useful diagram. Adrian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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