Today at work I was bored and was reading the Sept 2009 MR Magazine for the 4th time. I came across the ad for Humpyard. I am getting ready to need some turnout contols, not ready to do DCC contol thing and not in a hurry to use snap swithes motors either.Then there ad got my eye. Here is a picture I got from there site.
Has anyone here used them? If so what do you think of them? Look pretty neat and prices does not seem that bad, well to me. Here is a link.
Cuda Ken
I am a fan. I have them in four different locations. For a straight forward hook up, they are easier than tortoise. For more complex applications, they can be tricky in that the wire can stretch a little bit and so sticky turnouts can be a problem, though less than other types. I have only tried the power routing a couple times and have not mastered that.
All in all, I am still a fan, though I use caboose in my yards where they are easy to reach, they are easier.
They do look wonderful, and I find using them to be more fun than any other. We can atlk more if you have specific questions
I remember Spacemouse was using them on his new layout, but he aint been around in a while. I think he hangs out over at Joe’s.
Well just basic questions like how do they work at the lever end. Do you use the small lever to release the larger handle. What is the travel of the lever, one lever open and close the turnout or do you need two per turnout? What if you only need say 2 feet of cable, cut off what you do not need, or route so the cable stays 6 foot.
By the way Art, good to see you back!
Ken
When I finally break them out of the box and get them mounted on the layout I’ll let you know. I liked them A: for the simplicity and B: they just looked cool with those big handles
Ken
Send Howard an email at HOWARD@HUMPYARD.COM
The small lever is for looks. The big lever works the unit. There is a small"click" feature that holds it in place. That works really well.The top of the lever travels about 2 inches, the bottom (working part) travels about 1/2 inch. Each lever works one turnout. I put mine in groups of four because that is what the layout called for, but any combination works. I cut the cable to length and had lots left over for mistakes. You can also connect cable for long runs. I did break one lever and he sent a replacement. I really clobbered it. They don’t break easy at all. My grandkids can’t hurt them.
I am still a fan. I wish I would get a commission. Good luck Ken.
Ken
They look cool and I had planed on using them also. I wish I could read MR at work! My boss hates it when we read the newspaper at coffee break.
Pete
Pete, heck when it slow I work on the trains at work. Today I hard wired a decoder and still had time to read about trains!
So you can make them longer, that is good news Art. I like to have most of them next to each other, will need apx 9 of them for K-10 mining.
Ken
I called from work Friday and got the answering machine. Never heard back from them? Worked a different store Saturday. I called Mel at the other store and had to Explain I might be getting a call from a company called “HUMPYARD” and it was train stuff. [:D]
Cuda Ken
These critters look really neat, but there’s something about them that demands that they be used for/at an interlocking tower. Of course, then there’s the demand for actual interlocking (see that article in MR from a VERY long time ago on how to build one). Still, if I had an interlocking tower and a few appropriate switches on my layout, I’d DEFINITELY use these (I’m “CTC” on the main and hand-throw off).
Ed