Coorinating turnouts

[jwalcorn@hughes.net]

I am trying to figure out how to synchronize/coordinate facing turnouts (crossover.)  I see 10' extender cords but no "wye" cord.

[Jerrys HO]

center wire is power. both outer wires control direction of points. connect the outer wires together, one from each side. if they are not in sync flip the wires on one side and that will put them in sync.

[Doneldon]

jw-

I assume that you mean that you want to line multiple turnouts by
throwing a single switch. That's a bit complicated using non-DCC
turnout controls. However, you can program turnouts quite easily
with DCC.
                     -- D

[Jhanecker2]

The question is are you using DC or DCC ? If you are using DCC follow Donaldson's advice .  If you are switching DC  Jerry's HO advice applies .   Do your self a favor  get one of the Books on wiring from either Atlas  or Kalmbach Publishing    These will save you a lot of grief and also get a multimeter from Bar Harbor and learn to use it to determine the condition of your electrical situation . J2.

[Desertdweller]

This isn't really hard to do with DC.  Get yourself a "barrier strip" (terminal strip) from Radio Shack.

As was stated, the center wire is the common, the outside wires determine direction.
Run the three wires from the switch control to the barrier strip.  Then connect the three pairs of wires from the track switches to the terminals on the barrier strip opposite the ones you ran wires to.  The common wire from each switch attaches to the center terminal.  You will have to experiment with the other four wires to get the switches to throw together.  When you do this correctly, both switches will throw the correct way from the single switch control.

When you use two switches this way to make a crossover, be sure to have a short stretch of straight track between them to avoid an S curve, which will cause derailments.

I suspect the switch control has some sort of capacitor in it.  Waiting a few seconds between operating the paired switches will result in better switch machine performance.

Les

[Doneldon]

Lining non-DCC turnouts does become complicated in that you can no longer
throw just one turnout at a time, and making more than one line with common
turnouts becomes a real bear. Also, it's a good idea to use a capacitive discharge
system if you are throwing more than two turnouts at a time.
                                                                                              -- D