Model Railway Forum

We do not know what is method of control the OP is planning to use - DC or DCC??

On DC LEDs connected to the frog wont work because.. A) The voltage is at zero when the controller is Off and has too low a voltage when running slowly. B) DC reverses on the frog depending on direction of travel. You need some sort of point motor operated change over switch.

On DCC, the frog can be used and indications set by the point blade position can be fed from the DCC system. See Link 1 Or of course use a point motor operated change-over switch etc. and feed the LED from a separate DC power supply.

The alternative where stall type motors - Tortoise or Cobalt are used is the LED(s) are placed in line with the feed wires to the stall motor. Or use one of the ready made Point Position Indicator boards. The latter methods though only show that the operation switch has been moved not the actual motor itself.
If you use surface solenoid point motors then switches can't be fitted directly to the motor! Here you can use a micro switch on the opposite side of the point and its lever worked by the points moving stretcher bar or use one (ready made or make it yourself) latching relay modules that operate with the pulse of power to the motor. These of course work with all solenoid motor not just surface ones. Ready made are the Gaugemaster GM500 Link to GM500 or the Brimal MR2014 Brimal latching relay unit ..Or build one yourself for about half the cost! Link to Latching relay design

Whatever control method is used, personally I dislike having Red (unset route) and Green (Set route) LEDs all lit. I find there are far to many lit LEDs on a small area (the panel) all shining at you! Simplest IMO is to only to show the route that is actually set. One or more LED then is used for the routes set direction. In fact recently I saw to good effect a white three LED strip used in each route. It was placed behind the panels track plan and shone through holes in plan, it wasn't too bright and looked very realistic.

A simple DCC LED point indicator, its driven by a Electro Frog power, a 3 legged LED or 2 different color LED's with the positive leg on the out rail each side and a 2.2k 1/4 watt resistor on the negative leg or legs to the frog wire length doesn't matter to much.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bgGWLLf4hxE

Thank you all for your replies, slowly things are becoming clearer on how this works.
Those of you who are model railway electrical wizards sometimes forget that novices like myself and others have no knowledge or experience of electricial circuits and gadgets and really do need a very simple diagram to understand how things are wired and work. Plenty of help available here though I am very pleased to say.
Now another question please:
Do I really need a power distribution board to serve all my point wiring, or is just as easy to use a choc block terminal strip?
Thank you in advance.

DC or DCC layout..????

The Sligo Rover wrote: ↑Sun Oct 21, 2018 10:33 am <Snip>
Now another question please:
Do I really need a power distribution board to serve all my point wiring, or is just as easy to use a choc block terminal strip?
Thank you in advance.

No your don't need a distribution board. It just makes wiring possibly easier!
Assuming by 'Point wiring' you mean the operation of an electric point motor?
If so, a lot will depend on the type of point motor being used - Solenoid such as Hornby, Peco or Gaugemaster etc or Stall motor such as Tortoise, Fulgurex or Cobalt.
Assuming solenoid, then use 16/0.2mm wire throughout as a minimum. Ideally add a Capacitor Discharge Unit (CDU) immediately after the power supply which is often 16 volt AC. Note; do not use a CDU with Hornby R044 Black levers because of their design they don't work well with a CDU. All other passing contact point levers and switches - non locking sprung to centre Off toggle switches, momentary push buttons or Stud and Probe are fine with a CDU.
From each lever or switch two 16/0.2mm wires run out to the motor. A third wire on the motor is the return back to the supply or CDU negative output terminal. On the layout all the motor return wires connect onto the one return wire. Twisted and soldered joints or terminal blocks can be used to make the connections to each motor.
Note: The wiring insulation colours used on pre wired solenoid motors differs make to make. So ensure you use the correct coloured wires as per any instruction leaflet. A typical example is Hornby use Red and Green for the operation and Black as the return. Peco and Gaugemaster use Red and Black as the operation and Green as the return!

Brian, thank you to you and others. I think I have finally got this very important wiring set up clear in my turnip and I will feel more comfortable making a start on it in the next few weeks.
I have spent this afternoon giving my 25mm X 50mm frame work and the underneath side of my baseboard a coat of white undercoat. I have read pros and cons for this but having seen the result I think it will be well worth the tenner for the tin of paint as it has made it quite a lot brighter and easier to see underneath the baseboard. Hopefully this might help others decide if it is worthwhile.
Now I just need to see if I can put four wheels on my little stool so I can slide along while working underneath the baseboard, another trip to Screwfix I think.