Ok. A question - do I want to go for powered turnouts on my first HO layout?
Here’s what you need to know:
I am thinking of DCC
I am a novice… with NO experience
I am building my first HO layout on a 4x8 sacred sheet (no editorial comments on my choice please)! As outlined in the Vote for My First 4x8 Layout - You Vote and I Will Build it! post I have chosen Byron Henderson’s Falls Mills layout (see below)
To power or not to power? That is the question…
A couple of things to consider in making your decision.
Do you have easy access to both sides of the layout where the turnouts will be located?
Do you want to follow your train as it follows the route or do you want to stay in one place and operate from there?
If the answer to 1. is yes then manual operation is a good possibility. If no then remote (powered) operation is justified.
If the answer to 2. is yes then manual operation is a good possibility although powered operation via switches located on the fascia is also a possibility. If no then remote operation is justified from a central control panel.
Think through what style of operation you want and the answer will come to you.
Joe
When I was a newbie and started my layout 3 years ago, I went all the way with DCC powered switches.
I chose to use Peco switches, with Peco switch machines, and using NCE stationary decoders to control all my switches with my NCE throttle. The installation of the switch machines were easy for me, they mount directly under the switch, and I cut a hole in the foam that the switch machine drops down into. It also hides the switch machines.
I think the Tortiose switch machines are nice, but not for a beginner, they are difficult to learn how to install correctly and take a lot of work.
So here’s my issue… The benchwork that I built has a 4 inch thick woodwn support railing under where I’d need to install the switch motors ( I am assuming they go directly underneath)… Guess the question is do I start with a new benchwork design to allow direct access to below the turnouts? And will I need the same access directly underneath for all types of powered switches?
Go for Powered turnouts. Think of this as a learning lab. Learn all the techniques you can or want to. In other words “what would you want on your dream layout”? Why not try at least one tortoise switch machine? Try a Peco as well. Get them working in DCC again as a learning lab. When you master that get JMRI working with DCC and watch all the turnouts switch magically as it follows the route you mapped out in JMRI. Don’t be afraid to do redos on this 4x8 until you are happy with your skills and the results.
For everything on this layout, if the question comes down to should I shouldn’t I, the answer should always be go for it at least once!
Good Luck, Derek
With that small of a layout it is almost a matter personal preference.
Pros
Cons
Hmmm hard to say exactly but in general no the motor doesn’t have to go directly under. One can build all sorts of linkages with piano wire, pc boards, cables, cranks and the like.
First, a bit of nomenclature. You want to throw the switch (the assembly of points and throwbar that moves.) The last time I threw a turnout, the target was a trash can…
As a general rule of thumb, if you have to control point position from two or more locations (immediately adjacent and a CTC panel in another room) you need powered switches. If you only have one place where everything gets done, or if you throw points as you move along with your train, then the five-fingered switch machine works fine.
If everything is concentrated in one place, then you might have to get inventive with creating linkages from that one place to the points on the far side of the table. I, personally, use a system that relies on fishing line in tension (!) However, my point assemblies are very free moving. Alternative methods use solid rods (dowels or metal) with or without bellcranks, or wires guided by tubes (AKA choke cables.)
The dead easiest way I know to throw points (for anything except Peco products) is to emplace a slide switch in the layout surface and connect it to the throwbar with a small paper clip with a Z bend in it. The switch handle looks rather like a small relay case. Peco points have a built-in spring that allows them to be thrown with a finger.
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - with hand-laid specialwork)
Atlas switch machines mount next to the switch points, above the layout. They are the least expensive powered option. While they aren’t as nice as Tortoises, they work reliably and have the advantage of letting you throw the turnout manually if you want to. The Code 100 machines, for some reason, are a bit large. I’ve covered most of mine with scenery.
Atlas and Peco machines are really designed to work best with their own turnouts. Peco machines, in particular, will only work with Peco turnouts because they require the built-in spring mechanism that only Peco has. A Tortoise, on the other hand, can be used with any turnout, although it would be necessary to remove the built-in spring if you wanted a Tortoise-Peco combination.
For a small layout like a 4x8, I would go with caboose industries ground throws. They are cheap, they work and they will make a small layout a lot more interactive.
Whatever you do, you should plan on powering the frogs, sometimes called making them “hot.” So the polarity of the frog needs to change, depending on which way the points are thrown. You can do this a variety of different ways. Switch machines like the Tortoise come with contacts on them to provide for the “hot” frog. Even Caboose ground throws have a model that provides contacts, but I’ve heard of mixed success with them. YMMV
LION votes for the powered switches. If you will be going on to build bigger things you want to learn the small stuff now. Tortoise switch machines are the easiest thing in the world to mount, but you do have to throw away the instructions that came with them and do them the way that all good LIONS do them.
LION also likes them because you only need one wire to control the machine. (The other side goes to your layout ground or common bus.) Contacts on the switch machine take care of any track or signal logic out in the hinter reaches of the layout.
ROAR
Thanks for all of your great advice!
I’ve decided to modify my benchwork to allow for access to the turnouts. Looks like it’ll be powered eventually…
Next step… the plywood!
As it happens I replaced a manual turnout with a powered on last night because even though I could reach this turnout I grew tired of having to walk around the layout to throw it. So now I have 3 powered turnouts and 4 manual ones with 2 more to be installed down the road. One will be powered one not but all will be operable from my CTC area