DCC layout all hornby track points BUT Peco Insulfrog crossing possible

[wapples]

Hi all long time no see, documenting new layout on youtube just search josef toy room model railway. ANYWAY Hornby layout is all hornby track and Peco 100 Flex tracks to fill in the tricky spots.

Now Iam more than happy to have my DCC layout in the "Hornby way" by having the little pins on the point blades its simple it works and they are pretty discreet and i don't have many points its a scenic layout to run long rakes. But on the feature station there will be a couple of HORNBY express points or PECO call them LONG anyway i was wanting to add a CROSS over and a LONG one would match the HORNBY LONG points? But Hornby only make a short cross..

Now PECO make one but they make it in both Insulfrog and non so my question is can I run it and will i have to solder the wire in any specific places for it to work or would the PECO insulforg SL-94 Crossover be good? Please say yes.

Would love plug and play option where possible but if i need to be tricky with pins I will do it. Love some advice on this one. Iam not in a place where I can just pop to the shop and buy one to try I order everything and it usually takes a month to get to me so want to try and tap into all your wisdom to get it right in the first place. Cheers

OP (original poster)

[Flashbang]

Hi

I'm not sure if this answers your question? But...

Unlike Hornby, Peco produce two types of OO track - Setrack and Streamline.

Setrack is identical to Hornby products (except Express points) and can be a drop in replacement. Tracks are automatically spaced at 67mm parallel lines centre to centre. Streamline is not a direct drop in, as all items are mainly to a larger footprint and turnout radius than Hornby or Setrack and the Centre to Centre parallel spacing is 50mm.

All Setrack is Insulated frog and to Code 100 rail profile which is the same as Hornby track.

Streamline things begin to get different! Points are supplied now in three versions and are identical in size. They are sold in three types and these are Insulated Frog, Electrofrog and some produced in the new Unifrog versions. Next Streamline in OO is sold also in two rail profile heights - Code 100 same as Hornby rail and Code 75 which is smaller sometimes called Finescale. Finally, all Hornby and Setrack items are supplied with metal rail joiners (Fishplates) pre fitted. Streamline has to have separately purchased rail joiners added.

To use a Streamline diamond crossing in with Hornby track would involve adding short pieces of track to bring the parallel tracks back to 67mm centres.

Hope this helps?

[wapples]

Hi

I'm not sure if this answers your question? But...

Unlike Hornby, Peco produce two types of OO track - Setrack and Streamline.

Setrack is identical to Hornby products (except Express points) and can be a drop in replacement. Tracks are automatically spaced at 67mm parallel lines centre to centre. Streamline is not a direct drop in, as all items are mainly to a larger footprint and turnout radius than Hornby or Setrack and the Centre to Centre parallel spacing is 50mm.

All Setrack is Insulated frog and to Code 100 rail profile which is the same as Hornby track.

Streamline things begin to get different! Points are supplied now in three versions and are identical in size. They are sold in three types and these are Insulated Frog, Electrofrog and some produced in the new Unifrog versions. Next Streamline in OO is sold also in two rail profile heights - Code 100 same as Hornby rail and Code 75 which is smaller sometimes called Finescale. Finally, all Hornby and Setrack items are supplied with metal rail joiners (Fishplates) pre fitted. Streamline has to have separately purchased rail joiners added.

To use a Streamline diamond crossing in with Hornby track would involve adding short pieces of track to bring the parallel tracks back to 67mm centres.

Hope this helps?

 

 

Thanks, I will bite the bullet and order one and sample around I mean if its not meant to be Ill just use the HORNBY cross but we will see no harm I guess i can easily sell it if its not what we need. Thanks for the speedy answer :)

[Jim-R855]

The angle and length don't quite match the express point so you will need to use some of your flexi track to get it back to set track geometry. Also note that with the Hornby crossing one track goes straight through (slightly shorter) and the other crosses it (slightly longer), whilst the streamline crossing has both tracks equal length. This is so that the Hornby one will exactly match point standard point geometry so you can string to gether any number of points and crossings and all the tracks will end up parallel and the same distance apart - the 67mm mentioned by flashbang. Note that 67mm is generous, the minimum spacing for 00 gauge is 50mm (Brian Lambert hints and Tips page) between centres so as long as the tracks stay at least 50mm centres to avoid coaches bumping you can ease back out to 67mm centres rather than trying to squeeze something like a 5mm piece of track in between the point and the crossing to do it right away. Of course how it will look in your feature station you will only determine by trying it. Because there is 0.75 degrees difference between the point angle and the crossing angle, the parallel line through the crossing will actually not be parallel, it will be getting closer at 0.75 degree on the point side away from the point and further away 0.75 degrees on the other point side. Rather than sweeping back out in between the crossing and the station you might just want to ease the tracks parallel at a closer spacing, which should look fine in a terminus and should be able to be made to look OK in a through station if you can ease it back out in beyond the station.

I think in theory insulfrog crossing should need no special wiring - each route is permanently powered through? But, if you have problems with metal wheels shorting over the plastic part of the frog and causing your controller overload to cut out I should imagine you would want to isolate both routes and use a switch to dermine which has power depending on which way the feeder point is set. You don't need to do it all at the point/crossing maybe include a short straight on the 3 legs not fed by the point with insulating rail joiners at the end of them. That way you will have created a dead section on whichever line isn't actively being used, so you can't accidentally drive a train on the through line into the train crossing over - the signal will effetively be against it! Also means a crossing train coming the other way would stop short of the crossing if the point is set against it.

To use electrofrog you will definitely need to switch power with the point, but as far as I can see there isn't an SLE-94, only the code 75 SL-194 comes in SLE-194 and that would give your rail height issues too.

(edited because I got confused which crossing has the wider angle... I think)

[Jim-R855]

Just noticed you can print the Peco datasheet at scale, cut out and see how if fits before ordering.

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1541/1303/files/SL-94.pdf?v=1634032928

(if the link doesn't work, just look on peco website on the crossing page)