The two bars that protrude to the side around the throw bar on Peco turnouts - what are they for? I’ve just bought my first Peco turnouts and find that these bars are in the way when laying a yard ladder.
Can I safely cut them off?
I plan to mount Caboose industries manual ground throws (waiting for delivery).
They’re called ‘headblocks’ and are for mounting your dummy switch stands to. If you plan to use Caboose throws you could drill the headblocks to accept track nails and mount the throws to the blocks. Headblocks can be trimmed and replacements put on the opposite side when you have clearance problems.
Lance
Thanks a lot for your quick answer!
Can I just chime in here for a second. You spent a lot of money for the PECO turnouts and now you are going to use Caboose ground throws on them! Why? The advantage the PECO turnouts have over (slightly) less expensive Atlas or Walthers turnouts is their built in snap-spring. So you can flip them by hand or with a wooden pic and they stay put. To use a Caboose ground throw on them you have to take the spring out. Why do it? If aesthetics are the reason, you could get something likeTomar or another brand of a stationary, non-working turnout stand and mount it on the head blocks for less than the Caboose turnouts cost and they are more realistic. Think about it.
Abbie
LOL
I agree with you, but I can hardly wait for the OP’s response.
Hey, the truth hurts !
Rich
I really appreciate the input. I’m in the process of switching over to DC/American prototype from the Märklin system and know next to nothing about this stuff. The Märklin C-track has a manual throw similar (at least in looks) to the Caboose Ind variant and is quite easy to throw even for people with large fingers/bad eyesight/far away from the turnout.
What I want is a easy manual way of throwing the switch. Fiddling with a wood pick to throw the switch hardly sounds convenient - is it really?! I guess just touching the points would work too but is that what you mean?
Please educate me!
br
The beauty of the Peco switch is in that snap-spring. It means the points stay firmly against the rails after you stop pushing on them.
So, you can use a simple mechanism to move the points, like a cheap and simple push/pull cable like one from a car or small engine with one end mounted away from the switch on the edge of your layout, or go the expensive route and use electrically powered devices like a Tortoise or similar. Less costly are twin-coil magnets that will also drive the Peco switch. Several manufacturers make them, including, of course, Peco. Their part number is PL-10 or PL-10E
Have fun, George
It does work, though, but I am also reluctant to do this. There are, of cause, those ground throws from Caboose Industries, no, abbieleibovitz, not the sprung kind, but the rigid ones, but they are oversized, look terrible and intrusive on a well detailed layout. Other than home grown solutions - like this one , there are the following options:
“The Bull Frog Manual Turnout Control” - view it here.
“Blue Point Manual Turnout Control” - view it here. Thi is the one to choose, if your going to use Peco Electrofrog turnouts.
Both of the above are not really cheap, just as expensive as a Seep point motor, available in the UK from sources like this one.
Thanks for your answers!
I would prefer a method where I control the turnout ‘at the turnout’ - not from a control panel, or else I could as well install electrical motors just like I have on my current Märklin layout.
If I go the toothpick way - the thing that bothers me is that it is hard to see which route the turnout points to. With a painted lever, you can see which way the lever points. I guess there are plenty of solutions for this too… [:)]
you don’t need to use a toothpick or anything else. Simply push them with your finger. It’s very easy.
Ditto for me. But mine is only a small 3’ X 6’ N Scale set up. Peco = a solid locked in place alignment of the points with just a push of the finger.
Blue Flamer.
The Bluepoint machines have to be the most overpriced things I’ve ever seen. $10 in quantity, for what is basically a DPDT slide switch with a vertical wire to actuate the turnout and a horizontal wire to put a knob on the fascia? Even the fully assembled Bullfrog is $1 less, and it too has a switch for electrical contacts to power the frog. The kit at $6 is almost a steal.
But, as mentioned, you don;t need ANYTHING with Peco turnouts. It’s easy to just push the points from one side to the other, and the spring keeps them locked in. It’s a bit tighter in N scale, but in HO there’s PLENTY of room to do this with a finger, no tools needed.
–Randy
My layout is mainly an island with Peco turnouts. Not remembering or being able to see how the turnouts on the back side were thrown became a nightmare.
My solution was to use the Peco switch machines on the turnouts i can’t reach and with L E D indicators to show how they are thrown. Or you can wire the machines so that when the momentary toggle switch is pushed up the turnout is in the through position.
Other wise I operate the turnout with my fingers as others have suggested. I find this to be an enjoyable part of operating.
Why use anything other than a Peco machine on a Peco turnout? Why go from the simple to the more complex?
Happy Railroading
Bob