motorising slide switches

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

After many years of absence from the hobby & getting back into it, I have found one thing that has not changed & that is the cost involved. Wagons, carriages, loco’s & track seem to be roughly on par with years ago however the quality & features are greatly improved.

As I am from Australia Articles from MR are very relevant but, many terms are certainly different but I can get throught that without much problem, however I have a need of help.

There is one area I find that prices seem to have gotten very expensive, & its an area that is vital to the operation of any model rail system. That being the operation of points (or turnouts - switches) with ensuring point motors costing an arm & a leg. So much so, that it can consume a lot of money.

In this regard I was interested in the article published in the September 2004 MR mag by John Saxon on Simple, Reliable turnout controls. On reading this article I am assuming that the operation is manual for this typr of switching device.

I have searched our local shops & have found these switches offer a cheap method as described, however, is it possible to automate these switches so that they work off a control panel or by a decoder for DCC.

Would appreciate help

2

I don’t recall the article you’re referring to, but my advice would be to use Peco turnouts if they are going to be in areas that you can reach to throw by hand. Peco turnouts have a spring that locks them into position, so they don’t need to be powered. For other brands of turnouts, the Caboose Industries sprung ground throw can be used instead of an electrical control if you can reach the turnout to change it by hand.

All of these turnouts can later be converted to electrical operation as you can afford or desire to do so, using a switch motor that is either DC or DCC controlled. What we did on a 20 x 40 foot HO-scale club layout is power only those turnouts that cannot be reached to throw by hand, and all of the ones that can be reached are either Peco or have the Caboose Industries ground throw.

Powering every turnout, even those that might be along the outer edge of a layout, can get to be very expensive, as you have discovered. Using a Peco turnout, even though they cost more initially, can save money in the long term by not requiring a motor.