2012-01-23 Update

Well, another weekend of progress on the pike. Actually, there was only limited progress, but some important things did get done regards to the primary goal of laying and wiring track around the yard section of the layout. A couple of shipments of turnouts arrived, which enabled me to test-fit a few links between the main and the yard and start cutting up flextrack to fit. So there I was, test-fitting my pieces and adding some crude wiring connections to start seeing trains run (that's the goal, after all). So around the loco went, and I ran into the yard, then wham, stopped dead and the DCC controller shut down. Uh oh, a short somewhere. That's weird, I thought to myself- it's a simple loop, and I reoriented the whole yard to avoid just this sort of thing. A veteran would know what I learned in a short bit- turnouts weren't DCC friendly.
So I had to check a few areas to see what was causing this short. Turns out it was a couple of areas that needed addressing: the Shinohara 3-way turnout in the hard; and an older turnout (not sure of make) in the module I imported into the layout. Time to get busy!
Again, I was reminded of how wonderful a creation the internet is. A few key strokes, and I had a wiring diagram about how to fix problems like mine. Allan Gartner's Wiring for DCC website (at www.wiringfordcc.com) was first up- he had a terrific blog post about adapting that 3-way turnout to eliminate its inherent short circuits. A razor saw, rotary tool, and some very basic soldering skills came into play, and over a weekend I managed (I think!) to make it DCC friendly. The other issue was a turnout in the middle of my module, which seemed to involve a simpler fix- just cutting (gently!) the strip connecting the two point rails, without cutting through the throw bar.