As their is a discussion on line and dead bolt elsewhere I felt we needed a new and broader one so people can show what they use and discuss such things as versatility easiness to construct and install, cost etc. With out hijacking some ones thread. I would like to hear other people thoughts on this subject. Do you like electric or manual or other?
As I am using all electric control at this time accept for Caboose Industry's ground throws as temporary machines on Atlas and Shinohara and like switches, until I get time to install the electric ones. I have two more staging yards to build and am looking for alternative ways to control switches that are hard to reach, without knocking cars off the track.
On this yard there are a lot of switches on the back side making it hard to reach in. If I had used manual control rods there would have been a lot of knobs on the fascia making it confusing to the operators. On the electric control panel we put the push buttons on a schematic diagram of the yard, but it can still be confusing to new people. Does some one have a better idea?[
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There are more turnouts to left of the control panel and behind the cars on the yard.[ATTACHMENT NOT FOUND]
Hi Robert,
As the guy who has the barrel bolt switch control thread I really appreciate your thoughtfulness in starting a new thread where folks can discuss any manner of turnout controls. I won't post much about my mechanical controls here since that's covered in the other thread. I will say that my choice of controls is the result of having to retro fit them into an existing layout with ballasted track and surrounidng scenary. Were I just laying track now I'd be keeping a close eye on this thread to see what othrs are doing.
Your photos are very illustrative of your question.
Ralph
I have experience with my layout and 2 others. The controls have been a combination of electric, manual (switch stand) and Peco finger-poking. The electric ones have been both twin-coil and Tortoise (slo-mo motor).
Whatever is used, crossovers should be arranged so that both switches change at the same time.
My layout uses mostly Peco twin-coil with a smattering of other ancient makes. I like them for ease of installation and use but they need robust points. I have them all along the entrance ladder to my larger station. Only problem there is where I've used other makes to get the contacts and the electrical characteristics aren't the same.
I have a double junction with 2 Tortoises. I like them because of the slow motion and the two thin wires that control them. But they are pricier than the Peco.
My small station is all finger-poking with micro-switches operating from the throw rod. (see my 2010 challenge). Since it's only half a dozen switches in a short area, that works. Previously I had ground throws and finger-poking. It's best when an area is done consistently, but I had old Pecos with tired springs.
On another layout, he had a lot of ground throws (Shinohara type switches) and we found the Caboose Industries ones weren't sturdy enough for our fingers.
On a third layout, I think the Tortoises are powered by relays. The controls involve touching a wire to a brass tube that's around a LED; the LED lights up when the switches are set. (at the station I operate). Other places they are operated by rotary switches. At one busy junction the motors are a bit slower than we'd like and the operator was given a button to kill the approach section if the points didn't change fast enough (guess why it's called Gerry's Thumb).
At the station I operate, the crossovers on 2 platform tracks and the escape road are powered but all the rest are manual (other platforms, crossovers, and the yards/shed).
I use mostly Tortoises, with some legacy twin-coils on the part of the layout that was moved from an older place, and a few oddball situations like a Peco double slip with Peco twin-coils. Since I use a lot of Shinoharas (the older, non-DCC style) with live frogs, and Atlas code 83s with isolated frogs that I power, I like the electrical reliability of routing power to the frogs from the DPDT contacts on the switch machines. I also control additional relays for signals from some of the contacts.
Here is a typical yard panel:[
attachment=10201]I'm on straight DC, so there are three types of switches on my yard panels: block switches (the large center-off DPDT switches), switch switches (the medium, flat handle SPDT switches that control the Tortoises through steering diodes), and the smallest, SPST switches that isolate particular pieces of track. If I were on DCC, only the flat handle ones would apply.
I've found it's hard to have electrical reliability on Shinohara/Walthers switches if you don't route power from the switch machines. Powering Atlas isolated frogs also makes things that little bit more reliable. I'm also in favor of anything that keeps hands out of the scenery, since it's easy to knock down figures, snap telephone poles, knock details off structures, knock equipment off the track, etc etc. Thus I like remote operation of switches even if they're right in front of you -- for the same reason, I like uncoupling magnets under the track.
I posted how I did my manual turnout control here:
http://www.the-gauge.net/forum/viewtopic...=15#p76571
Works well, didn't take too long to do (once I had one figured out) and used materials I had on hand. I will likely do the same on the rest of my layout as I build it. I'm using Peco turnouts, but plan to handlay the rest as pre-built turnouts are too expensive (rather save my money and buy a DCC system).
Have seen though others that use rotary knobs instead of the push-pull knobs - something I plan to try.
Marc!!! I can't believe I forgot about your paper clip turnout control! I even posted how much I liked it in your original thread!
I'm going to set one of these up on my layout as an experiment despite my current efforts to use barrel bolts. My big issue with turnouts is that the points float so I need a way for them to set firmly in place. Have you had any problems like that with your system?
Ralph
Ralph Wrote:Marc!!! I can't believe I forgot about your paper clip turnout control! I even posted how much I liked it in your original thread! I'm going to set one of these up on my layout as an experiment despite my current efforts to use barrel bolts. My big issue with turnouts is that the points float so I need a way for them to set firmly in place. Have you had any problems like that with your system?
Ralph
I'm using Peco turnouts that have the built-in springs, so no problem there - when I push or pull the knob on the fascia it clicks into position. I do have one turnout that I mangled when trying to drill a hole in the throwbar middle so the spring doesn't work that well anymore, but good enough - just have to push or pull a bit harder to ensure the points snug up to the stock rails. I'm hoping that when I handlay there will be enough friction in the throwbar that the points will stay in place - if not I guess I'll need to fashion a wire spring of some sort.
Today I installed a paper clip powered turnout control like Marc's. It was in a spot where it would have been a lot less convenient to set up one of my barrel bolt and line styled controls. Works great!
Ralph
Have you seen these turnout controls? <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.humpyard.com/">http://www.humpyard.com/</a><!-- m -->
I think I'm going to use Caboose Hobbies ground throws. They are out of scale even if you use n-scale versions in HO, but I like the way they work and I'm into prototypical switching operations, with an industrial switching layout, so I think the ground throws will replicate the prototype activity better than a button.
Russ Bellinis Wrote:I think I'm going to use Caboose Hobbies ground throws. They are out of scale even if you use n-scale versions in HO, but I like the way they work and I'm into prototypical switching operations, with an industrial switching layout, so I think the ground throws will replicate the prototype activity better than a button.
Russ, I did use them while laying track for testing. The problem was the erratic electric connection of the point rails with the stock rails and the hinges at my Atlas code 83 turnouts. I did solder short stranded wire to bypass the hinges. That makes electric frogs necessary without further modifications.
faraway Wrote:Russ, I did use them while laying track for testing. The problem was the erratic electric connection of the point rails with the stock rails and the hinges at my Atlas code 83 turnouts. I did solder short stranded wire to bypass the hinges. That makes electric frogs necessary without further modifications.
Thanks for the tip Reinhard. My plan is to use the Fast & Easy Turnout kit from the Proto87 Stores for all of my turnouts.
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.proto87.com/lowest-cost-fast-track-HO-turnouts.html">http://www.proto87.com/lowest-cost-fast ... nouts.html</a><!-- m -->
My plan is to run hard wire connections between the points and the stock rails, so that I don't need to use the points to make electrical connections. The only locomotive on the layout will be one Cf-7, possibly I will decorate an old Athearn Sw7 for GE to switch out the GE grain elevator. I think both of those units will easily bridge over dead frogs without stalling or shorting out.
Russ Bellinis Wrote:... My plan is to run hard wire connections between the points and the stock rails, so that I don't need to use the points to make electrical connections. ...
Russ, that sounds good to me. It would be very unlikely to get problems if only the frog is isolated and you use diesel engines with two trucks longer than GE 45tons etc..
Prairie Trains Wrote:On this yard there are a lot of switches on the back side making it hard to reach in. If I had used manual control rods there would have been a lot of knobs on the fascia making it confusing to the operators. On the electric control panel we put the push buttons on a schematic diagram of the yard, but it can still be confusing to new people. Does some one have a better idea?[ATTACHMENT NOT FOUND]
The first thing that comes to mind is color coding.
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