Looks like a lead for frog power ...

Looks like a lead for frog power ... has been added. Do you know how these were controlled by the former owner?

The shinoharas I have require gaps on the ends where the main and divergent routes are.

shinohara frog power

It does look like a connection for a polarity switch or frog juicer. The frog appears to be isolated at both ends so matches one of the options shown here

http://www.wiringfordcc.com/switches.htm

These are decent turnouts

David,  There have been a few different iterations of Shinohara turnouts and this is a more recent version.  As you can see from the photos, the frog is completely insulated.  Under normal operation it would not be powered.  That's the purpose of the wire.  You can use this wire to power the frog from the aux contacts on your switch machine or from an automatic device like a Frog Juicer.  If you are running DCC only, the Frog Juicer is a pretty slick device.  If, however, you are still doing some DC operations, the Frog Juicer can't be used.

It's not necessary to wire up the frog, but a lot of modelers do it to provide improved electrical contact thru the turnout.  These are better for DCC than some of the earlier designs.

Also important is what you didn't show.... if you flip the turnout over, you should find some metal jumpers embedded in the ties that connect all the fixed rails.  So all the rails are powered, and you don't need to use insulated rail joiners (unless it's part of a reversing loop or wye).  If you don't see these metal jumpers, let us know....maybe there is a version I'm not aware of.

Finally, there is one thing to watch out for on this design and that is the way the point rails pivot.  If you look close, you'll see what appears to be a loose fitting rail joiner at the pivot point.  It works ok mechanically, but sometimes the electrical contact leaves room for improvement.  The points depend on this joint and good contact with the stock rail for electrical flow.  If the points ever appear to be "dead" check these two places.  There are a few ways to fix this if it becomes a problem.

Unfortunately Shinohara no longer exists.  I used a lot of their turnouts over the years and they are nice to work with.  It appears Walthers has continued the line and made some improvements.  I believe I saw where they are going to a solid point rail.

Good Luck.  Hope this helps.

--MARK

Those look DCC friendly.  But

Those look DCC friendly.  But I have Shinohara turnouts and not had a fully insulated frog like that.  I've never seen a Shinohara like that one in the photo.

The problem I found with the Shinohara turnouts....

was more than the frog.  The point rails were dead most of the time and the rest of the time they were intermittent.  I ended up completely rebuilding all of them and rebuilding all of my Tortoise switch machines as well.  I have very little to no problems with the entire switch now.  My four axle locomotives traverse the frogs easily so there is no need for anything else.

I can elaborate on the procedure if requested to.

. . .

Please show a pic of the other end of turnout.  Without that people are just guessing.

The throw bar is also important in DCC friendly.

Marc

Thanks Marc,

That's what I did.  Works great.  I also upgraded to 0.032" piano wire on my Tortoise switch machines.  They only need a little point cleaning occasionally.  No stay alives and the lights don't blink.

DCC wiki

Is this article you are looking for? https://dccwiki.com/Shinohara

The problem I found with the

That's because those bronze wipers under the points were unreliable.  In fact I had one 3-way turnout where the bonze wiper jammed the points so they were stuck in one direction in a staging yard below the main yard so I had to cut a hole and get at it and fix it.

Great Responses

Love this group as I learn something new every time. Attached are pictures of the underside which has the connector for power to all rails. In addition, I found out that the previous owner had used Tortise (which I intend on using) connected to one of the two point connections to ensure good contact. They move freely and there is no extension to connect a ground throw.

It was fortuitous that I got these (free) as the layout was dismantled and parts wre given away to friends of the family, one being a close friend of mine. Excess to his needs, they were passed along to me. I am putting them to good use with smoother transition from my mainline to one of my yards and repositioning the turnout thereby allowing me to lengthen my yard tracks and provide for a drill track.

Thanks for all the feedback, you guys are great. This is my retirement layout and I now have room for one that will support 5 of my friends for ops sessions.

Pics

Marc,

Pics did not post.

Dave C.

. . .

 edited them out since those he has are DCC friendly it is clear

Marc.

Turnouts

They are the Walthers code 83 DCC friendly turnouts. They are made for Walthers by Shinohara until Shinohara decided to retire and closed his business. 

You do not need insulated rail joiners. The wire you have is a drop for the frog so it can be powered. My club uses tortoise switch motors and use one of the internal switches to change the polarity of the frog.

Richard