I haven't done anything with model railways since the early '80s using Hornby Zero One and Hornby (steel?) set track, so this is a really basic question for most of you!
I want to make a small shunting layout with a passing loop and one siding (without the passing loop, it would be the inglenook shunting puzzle track layout) in DC.
Do I require Electrofrog points or should I use Insulfrog points?
I want to make it as simple as I can as this is a whole new ball game for me!
If it would be possible for someone to do a wiring diagram for doing it with Electrofrog and a wiring diagram for Insulfrog for me, it would be helpful for me to get my head around this?
Also, how did Unifrogs come into all this? :D
Conductive frogs will perform better than insulating ones, but if you want to keep it simple there are things you can do to mitigate the limitations.
One is to restrict yourself to locomotives that will cross the insulation without stalling, i.e. by having a long enough wheelbase and preferably more than four wheels, all with good pickups. Another is that you may not be able to achieve the slowest of a crawl but need a bit of a 'run up' and the locomotive may need a nudge now and then.
If you are unsure, one approach would be to make a small trial piece with a single Electrofrog point and three short pieces of track to make sure you are familiar with the wiring and operation of Electrofrog points rather than commit yourself to a whole layout. You will need to find some means of switching the frog and the method used will depend on whether you plan to use point actuators or throw the points manually. If there is an Area Group near by or you know of an experienced modeller in the area that should be a help.
There is a video on wiring electrofrog points here (OO gauge). I don't think any 009 points are 'Unifrog', but essentially by cutting and joining the relevant wires they can be made to behave as if they are Insulfrog or Electrofrog points.
Thanks Graeme
Stick with the Electrofrog (live frog) points.
For your small shunting layout loco speeds will be low and small (0-4-0) locos will not have the momentum to get across the 'dead' bit without stalling.
'Unifrog' is Peco's compromise position. IIRC the 'frog' is metal and has a dropper wire that isn't connected to anything. Left loose the point is an 'Insulfrog', run it to a switch that in turn is fed from the live rails it makes it live frog.... But it's a little bit irrelevant in 009 as 'unifrog' is not an option (afaik).
As to the power feeds the usual rule is to feed from the 'toe' end (single track end) of the point. Looking at your track plan you'll need a feed at each end. The one on the left will do both sides of the loop and the siding at the bottom of the diagram, and the one of the right will power the loop from the other end.
HOWEVER!
Without any isolation breaks in the loop you have the situation where if both points are set for opposite sides of the loop you will get a dead short. To avoid this you'll need to add some isolation gaps, and the easy way to do this is to use insulated rail joiners on one rail coming out of the point's frog into the loop (the 'inside' rail of the loop), and make sure that one rail is isolated at one end and the opposite one at the other.
To further enhance running it's worth adding 'frog polarity switching'. This allows for the frog to be powered independently of the point blades as the contact between these and the (fixed) stock rails can be a bit unreliable and tricky to clean. The switches can either be activated by a point motor (Peco do one that fits their point motors), a micro switch actuated by the point's tie bar or servo moving the point, or a slide switch that also moves a mechanical linkage that changes the point.
Hope that helps...