Make American Models Turnout's Frog Point Live
A modification to close the insulated gap


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Making the frog point on the American Models turnout a hot point solves a couple of  issues. Sparking between the rails when wheels run across both rails is eliminated and the insulated portion of the frog  is shortened so the American Flyer tender trucks can cross at slower speed without stalling on the gap.

This is the milling jig I made to hold a Dremel flex shaft. Very simple  Just 3 pieces of  3/4" x 2" scrap wood.  
The Milling bit is set to cut .025" in the first pass and then at .050 in the second half that will be insulated.
Here is the milling depth dimensions.
The frog points are cut from 22 gauge brass stock and have a hole drilled for the power feed wire connection. 

A hole is then drilled next to the frog for the wire to be fed down through the layout to a switch.  
When gluing the point to the frog the CA glue is also used to create an insulated section between the brass point and the rails.
The frog point will have to be wired to a set of contacts on the switch motor etc. to select either the outside or inside rail depending on the route.

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