25 years ago I was forced to dismantle my railroad and pack it up. Now, I’m back! I have many of these switch machines (I know they have been replaced by better technology) and lots of planned off-main sections of track where I can still use them. I can’t find any diagrams re: mounting and I’ve forgotten how I managed it but I swear they were mounted under the track bed. I’ve been on the Internet till I’m blue in the face but can’t find any reference to mounting instructions for these old guys. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Welcome Back!
Those old machines were usually mounted under the track as you thought. You will need to make a ‘linkage’ out of music wire/tubing or buy something like a RIX mounting pad/linkage.
My layout had scads of them(many ‘rebuilt’) when I built it in 1988. Over the years I got tired of the maintenence issues with them(usually the contacts that I used to power the panel lamps). Finally, one of the machines got a direct short on one side of the coil and ‘tacked’ a momentary toggle on a panel. The switch machine got so hot that it melted the plastic RIX mounting pad! After replacing the toggle/RIX mounting pad/Kemtron switch machine, I started looking for a better solution.
A few leeks later I was at a local train show and a guy had 18 Tortoise machines(like new in the box) and was selling them for $5 each - I snapped them up, even though I really had no experience using them. All of my staging tracks/hard to reach areas are now powered by the Tortoise slow motion machines. They are ‘rock solid’ reliable, and the install is not too bad. I did remove the old turnouts so I could drill a mounting hole directly under the throw bar(much easier). It takes me anywhere from 5-30 minutes to install a Tortoise, and I never have to touch it again.
If you are still going to use those old switch machines:
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Clean them up and make sure the ‘throw’ is smooth
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If you plan to use the electrical contacts, burnish/adjust them before installing them
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Use a ‘Capacitive Discharge’ power supply so you do not have a ‘dial a flame’ disaster like I almost had
Jim Bernier
Thanks Jim - I’ve learned about the Tortoise machines and I do plan to go there for up front trackage and yard. TC