i have a few casadio turnouts, including a couple of wyes. my problem is that i only have the turnouts, which are unused; and each one have three plug-ins on the switch motor, which i do not know what plug-in is what. i know i could test each one by a process of elimination, but i don’t want to chance burning them out. does anyone know what plug-in i run to which contact on a turnout switch? two of the plug-ins are grouped together forward of the third. i would appreciate any help you can give. i’ve tried the web, but couldn’t find anything helpful.
If these are three terminal turnouts it is likely they are solenoid based, so in order to switch them you need to send an AC pulse of 1/10 sec or so … Long application of voltage will kill them. So I am glad you did not try this. Do you have apicturefrom which the people here will know?
The way I found it, I Googled Model Rairoad Casadio switches, and came up with all kinds of hits about that brand of track and that was in their remarks about MRR.
We had a couple of Casadio turnouts given to our club a few years ago – brass rail – after looking at their poor quality construction they wound up in the trash.
At some point in the late 1970’s/early 1980’s, Atlas imported Casadio turnouts and sold them under the name of ‘Customline Supreme’ - I had 4 of the code 100 nickel-silver ‘curved’ turnouts on my old layout. They had 22"/18" radius legs and were just as reliable as any other turnout. I did remove the cast-on switch machine and attach Caboose Industries ground throws. When I removed the old layout, I got $5.00/each for them at a swap meet! IIRC, they were something like $11.99/each brand new.
I just picked up a Casadio double slip switch on Ebay today for $19.99 & free shipping. I will design a place to use it in the HO layout I am preparing to build (my 4th layout, but the first in 40 years!), I figure a double slip switch is an interesting enough curiosity to model - and they were found in prototype yards to save space. A slip switch for 20 bucks? heck yeah, I’m all over that. New ones go for $85 plus $10 shipping! I’ll figure out a place to install it. Looking at the photos I can’t see where build quality looks to be an issue, nor DCC compatibility. I’ll soon find out
Not that it matters, but a quick application of voltage to any two of the terminals will tell you, assuming the switch machines are still working. A switch flip or a hum says you’ve got the common and one of the position terminals. Nothing means you’ve got the two position terminals and the other one is Common.
