Reliable Turnouts

Assuming we are NOT talking about dirty track and dirty wheels, most commercial turnouts still have electrical problems. Yes DCC specific issues have been addressed with newer turnouts, however the worst of the old original problems remain. You know you have a turnout problem when a given engine runs fine on straight track but as soon as it hits a given turnout, it stalls or fails to go through it as smoothly as straight track.

Hence the standard or goal it to get a given turnout to be as reliable as straight track.

The engines that typically have the worst electrical problems with turnout are small wheel base engines such a 0-4-0 switchers or the equivalent plymoth diesel engine.

Achieving electrically reliable turnouts that trains can run through at a slow speeds with small wheels base engines (0-4-0) it often difficult to achive with "Off the Shelf" turnouts. What can be said is that if you can achieve electrically reliable operation at one second per tie performance with a 0-4-0 engine will mean ALL other engine will run that way to.

The unprototypical way of solving the problem.