Electrics – Back To Basics (Part 16) Three way points

Electrics – Back To Basics (Part Sixteen) Three way Peco Points

Part sixteen of this back to basics series, we continue our look at the basics of how to wire up a layout. In this article, we take a look at one of the more complex pieces of point work, the three way point by Peco. Peco offer the 3-way point or as they call it a 3-way turn out in four options. These are as follows:

• SL-E99 Three Way Medium Radius Electrofrog Turnout – Code 100 track (OO/HO)
• SL-99    Three Way Medium Radius Insulfrog Turnout – Code 100 track (OO/HO)
• SL-E399F Three Way Medium Radius Electrofrog Turnout, Code 55 track (N Gauge)
• SL-E199 Three Way Medium Radius Asymmetric Electrofrog Turnout – Code 75 track (OO/HO)

The 3-way points are quite a complex looking piece of trackwork. They’re an ideal space saving item making them ideal for yards, stations etc. As can be seen they are available in insulfrog (insulated points) & also electrofrog (live points) versions. We’ll look at how to wire these points up for both versions & hopefully help guide any one who is struggling to get their head around the wiring up of these three way points.

In the image below showing a asymmetric electrofrog point, various parts of these finely made points are highlighted. On Insulfrog (insulated) 3-way points, the Vee of the points have a bigger plastic section Vee (instead of the metal live Vee) to insulate the points from shorting out. If you require the point work to be more reliable (especially if using short wheel base locos), go for the Electrofrog points as these give better running of trains across the Vee sections of the point work.

We’ll start off by looking at wiring the points up with out point motors, but using the wire in tube method to manually operate the points. In the diagram below can be seen the wiring plan for a three way point using manual slide knob switches. A small hole is drilled through the knob on each of the two switches. A stiff wire is then bent & fed through the hole in the switch knobs. From the switches the wire is run through a tube under or on top of the baseboard. Here the wire then emerges out of the tube & is connected to the sliding point tie bar. Thus when the switch knob is moved manually, it will either pull or push the wire which in turn will move the point tie bar & switch rails.

The switches will need to be wired to the track power supply to enable the Vee to be in the correct electrical polarity. The switches you’ll need are the three tag version as seen in this image here. Available from all good electrical parts suppliers.

The center tag on the bottom of the switch needs to be wired up to Vee of the points. In our diagram below we’ve show this with the blue & red wire from one switch, the green & red wire from the second switch. The second switch with the green & red wire controls the centre Vee & right hand Vee of the point work, these have been wired together. The first switch with the blue & red wire controls the Vee at the left hand (or heal) end of the points.

The Red wire (+ Positive ) from the controller/track is connected to the left hand tag on each of the two switches, with a link wire running ftom the first switch to the second switch. This is repeated again with right hand tag on each of the two switches (The black – Negative wire), & as before there is a link wire connecting the two right tags. 

Using this method avoids the use of using point motors & relies on the points being manually operated.

Next, we move on to using point motors with add on or built in accessory switches. The additional accessory switch is used to control the polarity on the Vee of the point work. The point motors in this example are Peco PL-10 with Peco accessory switch PL-13. The PL-13 sits upon the PL-10 point motor & is operated by the tie bar of the point motor which moves/slides the switch on the PL-13 accessory switch.

In the diagram below, we’ve omitted the wires from the point motor control switches to the point motors themselves for clarity. Here we show the PL-13 accessory switches & how they are wired up to the Vee on the points. As before you have the two main + positive & – Negative wires that connect up to the controller/track (Or in the case of DCC the track or power bus wires). These two wires connect up to the two left hand tags on the PL-13  accessory switch. The third tag which is on the right hand side of the accessory switch, then runs on to connect with the Vee of the point work. As shown in the manual point switch operation earlier, the right hand accessory switch controls the polarity on the center & right hand Vee’s on the point work. These two Vee’s are linked together by the blue & red wire.

The third Vee on the point work, on the left hand (heel end) of the point, is linked via the green & red wire to the other PL-13 accessory switch. As the point motors are operated, the accessory switches moves in unison with the point motors to change the polarity of the Vee on the point work.

The orange arrows in the diagram, show how the accessory switches are mounted on to the point motors. The the point motors are then either mounted to the underside of the point work directly (you’ll need a hole big enough to take the point motor). Or mount the point motors to mounting plates, with a small hole big enough for the point motor bar to fit into & room to operate the point tie bar.

If you are using Gaugemaster SEEP PM1 point motors with built in accessory switch, use the following outlets to connect the point motor to the Vee on the three way points. These are as follows:

• Outlets D, E & F.

The two images below, show how the SEEP PM 1 point motor with built in accessory switch is wired up to the 3-way points. Connection pads D & E are conected to the track / controller at the toe end of the point work. F is what’s known as the common return (- Negative) for the built in accessory switch. Run the wire common return (- Negative) from F to the Vee of the point work. Thus when the point motor is operated, it’ll automatically change the polarity of the pointwork every time the point is operated. The SEEP PM1 point motor is a good low cost-effective point motor with it having a built in accessory switch. There are other point motors on the market that also have built in accessory switches as well the ones we’ve shown here. Go for what suits your needs, preferences & budget best.

We’ll be adding more to this series over time, so be sure to check back regularly.

Happy Modelling.