Is there anny way to have the switch motor on the straight side of the switch instead of inside the curve? I want to have several swirches one right after the other but the motor location interferes.
Looking at a picture of a GG switch it appears that unless the long ties can be reversed it would be necesary to build a base to mount the switch machine on the straight side. The operating bar/throw does extend to that side and has a hole for connecting the linkage. On Ross switches the ties extend on both sides to allow changing the motor location.
Use a very small section of straight track between the switches. This should give room for your machines.
I have older Gargraves without the long ties. I made a small block of wood next to the switch and mounted the DZ1000 to that. That way you can mount it on either side. At first I had mine just a little high and the trailing truck on one of my steam smacked it. You have to position DZ1000 and Caboose Industries ground throws carefully so they throw the points equally against each rail. I had to glue toothpicks into the already drilled mounting holes and reposition them a couple of times. My DZ1000 dosen’t always move the switch points all the way against the stock rails. In the C shaped groove the indicator dosen’t go all the way to the end of the C all the time. One other on ogaugerr complains of this otherwise I havent heard of others with this trouble. I bought a used Ross with DZ1000 on eBay and the DZ1000 dosent work. I don’t know if its the switch motor or the pushbuttons. Rather than buy another that seems very questionable I plan to make a remote manual way to operate the switch even though the wires are in place.
San Fernando Valley CA.
The exact mounting location of the DZ-1000 switch machine is not 100% important, rather that it throws the switch all the way. I had to off-set a DZ-1000, at a 22% angle, because it would not stay against the curved part of a switch that had a Caboose Industry ground throw on it previously. Also like somebody else mentioned, make sure the switch is clear of any engines or rolling stock after being mounted permently.
Another thing that I did with a DZ-1000 switch machine was to convert an old Lionel 027 switch, looks similar to a newer # 65021 switch, and mount the switch machine on the old switch housing after removing some of the plastic with a dremel tool. The 027 switch was a total loss before converting it, it had many missing parts, but the switch throw piece was still there. It works but it is ugly, because you can still see part of the old Lionel base that I cut the plastic off of.
Lee F.