Is it a good idea to power check rails on British Finescale turnouts?

[n9]

I'm currently building my first BF turnout in N, and while it's not specifically stated that the check rails should be powered, I'm wondering whether to electrically bond them to their adjacent stock rails, or keep them dead.

 

Lacking a wealth of running experience, I'm not at all sure how often, in the potpourri of RTR wheel dimensions or perhaps wheels that aren't uniformly clean or that are making their way through slightly oversized flangeways, a situation could arise where electrical contact with a check rail might prevent a stall, particularly with small locos.

 

Is it a good idea to power check rails or a no-no?

 

For reference, the BF wiring instructions are here (on page 12), and here's the front and back of my A5 turnout as it stands:

 

 

 

 

Thanks!

[Dagworth]

I can't see it doing any harm, but likewise I don't see it being any benefit.

 

Andi

[Wheatley]

Is powering them simply the same as only gapping a copperclad sleeper in the middle and not down the flangeway  as well ? If it is then I can't see it doing any harm otherwise all the various descriptions of how to build copperclad points would have included it. 

 

No idea whether there's any advantage to doing it on something like BFS where it would have to be done as an extra step rather than it being the default. 

[n9]

17 minutes ago, Wheatley said:

Is powering them simply the same as only gapping a copperclad sleeper in the middle and not down the flangeway  as well ? If it is then I can't see it doing any harm otherwise all the various descriptions of how to build copperclad points would have included it. 

 

No idea whether there's any advantage to doing it on something like BFS where it would have to be done as an extra step rather than it being the default. 

I've never tried with copperclad, so couldn't say.

 

But it's beginning to sound sound like there's little to gain by doing it, which is what I really wanted to know.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

The coning of wheel tyres acting on the running railhead does all that is necessary for pick up; and there is one potential downside from a live checkrail, in that it provides an additional location for a piece of metal (detai)  fallen off a model to bridge to a rail at opposite polarity.

[Dagworth]

1 hour ago, 34theletterbetweenB&D said:

The coning of wheel tyres acting on the running railhead does all that is necessary for pick up; and there is one potential downside from a live checkrail, in that it provides an additional location for a piece of metal (detai)  fallen off a model to bridge to a rail at opposite polarity.

Somewhere I read that there is quite a bit of pickup contact on the inside top edge of the rail as well (The gauge corner to use its proper terminology) so it's worth cleaning any track paint off that edge as well as the rail head.

 

Andi

[DCB]

8 hours ago, Dagworth said:

Somewhere I read that there is quite a bit of pickup contact on the inside top edge of the rail as well (The gauge corner to use its proper terminology) so it's worth cleaning any track paint off that edge as well as the rail head.

 

Andi

 Most half decent 00 wheels are coned and pick up on the gauge corner.     The coning helps greatly with running through points as I found out when trying out a Dapol Mogul which does not have any coning  (until I turned the wheels in a lathe then it was fine)   The fine scale ones tend to have under scale treads and no coning so pso run flat on the rail tops.

[n9]

I'm curious now why the wing rails get power and the check rails don't, because don't the wing rails largely act as check rails for the crossing V? Is the back of a wheel face more likely to come into contact with a wing rail than the back of the opposing wheel is to a check rail? And given that both wheels are rigidly joined by an axle, and assuming equal flangeway tolerances (which I don't think they are on these turnouts) isn't that likelihood equal?

 

I realise I'm spitting hairs here, so feel free to reply only if your current mood is as altered as mine is after spending 10 days stripping, preparing, and painting a particularly challenging kitchen wall.

[Jeremy Cumberland]

3 minutes ago, n9 said:

I'm curious now why the wing rails get power and the check rails don't

It doesn't matter whether the "wing" part is powered or not, but you want the whole of the knuckle to be powered, since this is what the wheels run on. British Finescale points have a joint right in the middle of the knuckle, but track power needs to continue a short distance beyond this, hence the bonding.

[n9]

15 minutes ago, Jeremy Cumberland said:

It doesn't matter whether the "wing" part is powered or not, but you want the whole of the knuckle to be powered, since this is what the wheels run on. British Finescale points have a joint right in the middle of the knuckle, but track power needs to continue a short distance beyond this, hence the bonding.

Yes you're right, I can see that at the knuckle power is needed, so I guess it's just a function of the wing rail leading into the knuckle that means it gets powered, and adding an additional isolating gap to the wing rail doesn't really make sense. I think I've spent too much time in that kitchen. Thanks!

[DCB]

1 hour ago, n9 said:

I realise I'm spitting hairs here, so feel free to reply only if your current mood is as altered as mine is after spending 10 days stripping, preparing, and painting a particularly challenging kitchen wall.

What a waste of modelling time. You could have built a shed and a double track loop around  garden in that time.  Now its finished your significant other will find you something else to do. Unless you put your foot down you will turn into a serial DIYer ( as I seem to have done) 

[tom s]

I might add that the in the same way a very light locomotive will have poor electrical pickup, the tiny amount of force that a wheel might receive from running against a checkrail might not result in a significant connection even if they do touch.

[n9]

44 minutes ago, DCB said:

What a waste of modelling time. You could have built a shed and a double track loop around  garden in that time.  Now its finished your significant other will find you something else to do. Unless you put your foot down you will turn into a serial DIYer ( as I seem to have done) 

Sadly it's not finished! But I know exactly what you mean - I'm getting close to having rebuilt half the entire house since we moved in. Or at least it feels that way, having been coerced into becoming the goto builder/electrician/plumber/carpenter/decorator for absolutely everything. If I had my way, I'd build that shed 15 miles away, a line running to it, and get a one-way ticket.