Switch Stand question

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I model in On30 and wondered if any of you use switch stands to indicate the position of your turnouts. What brand do you use and are they automatically thrown by the throw bar on the turnout? I see that Caboose Industires and Rix both make operating switch stands but don’t know which one is best to use. Any help would be appreciated. Thanx, Pete

2

Pete,

You must be a “lurker”. Only your second post in 7 1/2 years. Just teasing!

The turnouts on my layout are mostly powered with Tortoise switch machines and Tomar Industries signals (dwarfs and searchlights). In my freight yard, I use Caboose Industries ground throws without targets.

But, in my 8-track passenger station, I do use Caboose Industries high level switch stands (204S) for all of the turnouts. I really like the high level switch stands but be forewarned that they require a good deal of asembly and painting. There are several choices regarding the types of targets, but I set them up just like the picture on the Caboose Industries web site. The targets have to be painted so I used bright green and bright red colors so the signals can be seen from a distance. On the lantern on the top of the stand, you can use small jewels (not included) or just paint them. I painted the “bulbs” red and green. The lantern needs to be glued to the wire rod. I used CA adhesive. I also glued the targets to the wire because, otherwise, they slip.

The key part of the assembly, and the part that caused me the biggest headache, was the setup required to ensure that the targets turn to the correct color as the turnout is thrown. The asembled lantern and targets slip unless they are secured to the wire rod. I tried glue but it didn’t work well. So, I resorted to JB Pro Weld, a 2-part expoxy. I dabbed a little on the underside of the bushing supplied with the high level sw

3

I model in H0, my switchstand have a movable target. Look here.

This is a H0n3 stub switch, with movable target:

Wolfgang

4

I use two types of switchstands. The first one I use are the tall switchstands from Details West. I have to drill a hole thru it so that it will hold a .080 wire which I glue the target to. I then bend the wire in an upside down “Z” shape below the base of the switchstand. I then build a linkage that attaches to the throw bar tie with another piece of .080 wire that is bent to form a loop on one end and the oter glued to the throw tie so the bottom part of the “Z” shape fits into the loop and piece the two together. i’ll check the two wires for travel and make adjustments and then glue the base of the switchstand to the switch stand ties. When I throw the tortoise machine, the linkage moves the “Z” shaped target rod and the target turns.

The other switchstand I use is the caboose industries throw for my manual switches.

Stay away from the RIX brand. I’ve never gotten one of those to work properly. There are too many small parts that have to work in conjunction with each other and if it’s not an exact fit, it doesn’t work.

Here is a picture of one next to the locomotive. If you look close enough, you can see the tie bar althought the “Z” wire can’t be seen in this photo. it’s the best pictures I’ve got.

5

Thank you all for the replies. My biggest problem seems to be that the throw wire from the Humpyard Purveyance is not all that stiff and the target does not seem to rotate a full 90 degrees. I have one each of the Rix and Caboose Ind. switch stands and neither one works well. Maybe I’ll have to rig up a stiffer wire to throw the points. I had to take the internal spring out of my Peco turnouts to get the points to move at all in the first place. They work well but do not seem to move far enough to turn the target fully. I’ll keep working on it…[8D]

6

I will say this in favor of the Caboose Industries High Level Switch Stand, and that is, it does turn the target fully. Looks pretty cool, especially if you have a bunch of them in a yard or, as in my case, in the passenger station tracks.

7

I don’t know if this will help as I haven’t done it… but…

The Peco switches are factory designed to give the correct throw of the blades when they are kicked over the"over-centre" device that includes the spring. Peco’s own drive system uses a side-to-side solenoid that just kicks the blades one way and then the other way. The over-centre device holds the blades with no current to the solenoid.

Several things follow from this:-

  • taking out the spring loses you the over-centre lock - this doesn’t matter (and might be an improvement?) if you are using a different motor {it won’t have to overcome the spring} - you will need to hold the bades securely in each position.

  • The switches are designed to make all the throw needed for the blades to make correctly against the stock rails - this means that if you drive them further to drive the switch stand you are probably straining the blades against the stock rails. I don’t know but this could cause problems in the short or long term. Possibly just early wear and tear, maybe the track going out-of-gauge ???

I don’t know if the switch stands you are using are crank driven or geared (I have both types in my “to get round to” collection). I’m thinking that the amount of throw of the blades should always equal the amount of drive arm movement required…

I think that with a crank you should be able to achieve some adjustment by lengtheni