Hi all,
I recently aquired around 65 Casadio switches. Some are unused, some are junk, all are brass…my question is…how do the switches work? They move, obviously, but there are no wiring terminals and no manual throws…so how do you make em work? Anyone know where a user manual is online…a diagram or something?? I can’t find anything track related for Casadio.
Thanks
John.
The Casadio switches I have seen should only be thrown in the trash and not used for anything. The company no longer exists so you will never be able to get parts when they break.
I appreciate your opinion, however, I have what I have, and I would like to use them, but they came out of package and no instructions. Looks like they were not used or hardly used at all. Just no diagrams or anything that shows how to hook em up.
Thanks again
John
I imagine if they are like any other “turnouts” you could use an Atlas or Tortoise powered turnout control or a Caboose Industries manual ground throw.
Thanks…unfortunatley, I compared them to my Atlas units, and they do not seem compatable. Since I am not familiar with the tortoise or caboose brand, I cannot say. I really need some help on this one…LOL.
John
http://www.cabooseind.com/
These are manual and mount on top of the layout.(these come with adapters)
http://www.blwnscale.com/Circuitron.htm
These are powered Tortoise machines and get mounted under the table. Can be adapted to work with almost any turnout. Atlas makes under the table switch machines as well as the ugly ones that mount next to the turnout.
There are also manual cable operated machines that hook up under the layout. They cost as much as the powered Tortoise units, so I don’t see why people bother with them.
Welcome aboard!
Can you post a picture, preferably pretty close up, and maybe one shot from above and one from underneath? That would really help. There’s a brief tutorial at the top of the General Discussions forum on posting pictures. I’m not familiar with the Casadio brand, but if I see some wiring terminals I might be able to make a guess.
Are these powered turnouts, or do the points (the moving rail part) just slide loosely from side to side? If that’s the case, then you can use a number of different methods to throw them and hold them in place. On the other hand, if they’ve got some sort of electric mechanism to throw them, then we’ve got to figure out how the wiring is set up.
The generally negative opinion, I’m afraid to say, may be justified. One thing we all agree on is that good, solid, reliable track work is one of the keys to success in model railroading. Poorly made or old-and-abused track, particularly turnouts, will not serve you well. On the other hand, if these are in good shape and you are careful to mount them properly, they may give you a chance to do a lot of railroading on a small budget.
Thanks for input and interest. It seems they are definatley “vintage”. However, most of them are in unused condition with zero wear at all. They do have the typical brass patina but are not corroded. They are not electrically operated, but I’m not sure how they toggle manually either. I’ll get some pics up soon so you can see what I mean.
In simplest terms, when you move the point rails, what else moves? Whatever it is, if you can make some kind of mechanical linkage to it, you can throw the turnout. Often the throwbar is a long tie at the point end of the switch.
I’ll give this a shot…sorry if they are blurry, I’m still trying to figure out the camera…
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff311/pinebayboy/Turnout6.jpg?t=1190688333
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff311/pinebayboy/turnout1.jpg?t=1190688374
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff311/pinebayboy/Turnout2.jpg?t=1190688399
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff311/pinebayboy/Turnout3.jpg?t=1190688424
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff311/pinebayboy/Turnout4.jpg?t=1190688445
http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff311/pinebayboy/Turnout5.jpg?t=1190688468
May I be the first to say, most politely, that’s one ugly turnout! The brass strips on the underside are not to power the frogs, which look quite plastic, but rather to get power to the rails beyond the frogs.
As far as throwing the turnout, is the ‘spring thing’ holding the turnout in the diverging position, as it appears? Also, do I see some kind of slot in the box at the frog end of said spring thing?
Yeah they aint pretty, but they were cheap (hold the laughs). I’m thinking about modeling some of the low budget railroads of yonder years…[:-^] You are correct about the frogs, they are plastic. The “spring thing” does hold it in the diverge position, but it seems to serve no other purpose. There is a “slot” in the box where you mentioned, but it’s so darn small I don’t see what purpose it would serve. It’s about as thick a a piece of paper. They could easily be modified for undertable throws, and I took a scrap one and made a hasty modification to accept an Atlas manual throw…somewhat…it could work…LOL. At this point I am unfamiliar with undertable switch motors…that’s another day.
It sounds like you are on the right track. The only question I’d have is about the reliability of a turnout with only one moving rail. It seems to me that the gauge of the wheels becomes more important, and maybe in conflict with what ‘normal’ turnouts like. Though I have not though enough about it to say that out loud!
I was wondering that as well, but they do have the guardrail…I call it GUIDE rail, cause thats what it’s for…we’ve all heard that sometimes less is better…but we’ll see. I just need to figure out how to get these puppies motivated and see what turns out.
I used these in a time long, long ago. The compnay was connected with Rivarossi. The turnouts more resemble the old stub switches that were common in the early days of railroading than than a modern turnout. There was motor you could buy that fit in that cover and worked the throwbar. Since there was only one rail to throw, it was a tiny motor. I can’t imagine where you could get those any longer.
You can cut that whole plastic section away from the turnout, just leaving the drawbar in place. You can then use a Caboose ground throw postioned so the drawbar hole was under the ground throw peg when the turnout rail is in about the center position. You can also cut the drawbar shorter and drill a new hole if you have clearance problems with the ground throw. A piece of cork roadbed (or WS roadbed now) is just about the right height to mount the ground throw.
The first thing for you to do is hook up power to each turnout and make sure that both the straight and diverging routes have power. This was a common problem as those little brass wires under the turnout broke or corroded. Next, I suggest you make a little test track with a few setions of straight and curved track with the turnouts mounted each few sections. Use both left and right hand turnouts. Have enough track on the diverging route so you can a locomotive and few cars down it. Using the locomotives and freight or passenger cars that you will typically use on your layout, run the train both backwards and forwards, using both the straight and diverging routes. If you find the trains operate without a problem, you have a good lot of turnouts. As long as there weren’t power problems, these turnouts worked pretty good, even though they look terrible. Many of them have poorly made guard rails and the point rail didn’t rest securely against the stock rail. If you find you’re unable to run a train reliably on your test track, and even though I hate to tell you to do this, you should chuck them and write it up to experi
Thanks for the info. I kinda figured the price was too good to be true…BUT as they say…live and learn. I’m going to make the best of it and use these in low traffic areas of the yard. I have already played around some trying to figure out a way to rig them. It can be done…I did lay one on my Atlas switch and they matched up perfect. I thought the Casadio was not as sharp a turnout, but it’s the same as the Atlas. Thanks again everybody!
John
John,
Even if they look the same as the Atlas switch, try laying two identical circles of track from the diverging routes of both turnouts using sectional track. I’m working from memory here but the Casadio turnouts were about 1/4 inch, maybe two degrees different than the Atlas. If you’re using flex track, this probably wouldn’t matter but I seem to recall having to cut small pieces off the last curved section to make a complete circle between one of these turnouts and an Atlas turnout.
I appears that these were designed to simply be flipped with your finger, in more ways than one. Almost all modelers have, at one time or another, been tempted to go the, “cheap,” route. Can anyone honestly say that doing so has resulted in a better more enjoyable experience in the hobby? I know it’s enjoyable for us to take something that won’t work and make it work; it gives us a sense of accomplishment. But don’t do it with your trackwork, you’re asking for trouble.
Ray
I would make sure your trains don’t derail on these before I did anything. Judging from the misalignment of some of the rails on your example, I doubt that your going to have smooth operations with them.
Thanks everybody for the input. I’m gonna experement with them and see what happens…for now. If they do not work out then no love lost. I like the Atlas much better anyway. I’ll let you know how it turns out…will be a while though…I have alot on my plate right now. If they function ok, then I’ll likely do as I said before and just use them in the areas that will not see much switching and use the Atlas or others in the high switch areas. Thanks again.
John