Its time again to remind everyone it is your railroad. As long as
it works, you can do what you want to. What I try to give in my
website is bulletproof advice that will definitely work for everyone.
You don't have to cut your turnouts if you don't want to. However,
don't half follow the advice - meaning don't add any jumpers if you
don't make the cuts. A short will develop in the case of the Peco
Electrofrog.
One other thing I want to make sure I mention is that if you are
power routing any sidings, you may want to consider powering them
directly from a DCC bus. As previously mentioned about DCC and DC
currents, you may run into problems. It may work fine for several
years and then start giving you problems. You keep mentioning
putting insulated joiners on your turnout so I presume that you will
not be power routing your sidings. So this caution is aimed at
someone else who may come along and read this posting.
Definitely you want to make sure you are using at least 18 AWG bus
wiring.
And finally, the most important thing you should do when converting
a DC layout to DCC is give the ENTIRE layout the short test. Hook
up your booster and go around the layout with a quater or a pair of
pliers and short the track. Make sure your booster trips
immediately. Flip every turnout and test again. If your booster
doesn't trip, either your wiring is inadequate or your power routing
of your turnouts is inadequate. If you are power routing your
turnouts using your turnout's points, add some sort of switch or
relay to do your power routing for you.
