Errata for the October (2010) CTT

[lionelsoni]

Questions-Answers, p. 25--Unless the switch tower is powered from the same-voltage source as the 022 turnout, current will flow through its coil and the turnout coil in series when the turnout is not being activated.  This will be particularly troublesome if the 022 is operated from the track voltage, since every time the train is stopped, the full "constant lighting" voltage will try to operate both the turnout and the tower.  However, the problem that the article anticipates, of the accessory's being "'on' as long as the turnout is thrown in its direction", will not happen, as the turnout coil will have been disconnected when the turnout was thrown.  (A small current will flow through the tower to keep the controller lamp on all the time.  This is the same problem that is correctly anticipated in the p. 29 scheme of using Atlas "snap relays" and handled by using a second "snap relay".)

Questions-Answers, p. 26--"From the beginning, toy trains were run on common AC household power, reduced in voltage by a simple transformer."  In fact, Cowen's very first, 2 7/8-inch gauge trains were run on batteries, using either dry or wet cells.  DC operation remained important well into the 20th century, since houses, if they had electric service at all, were likely supplied with Edison's DC power.  Even when transformers became more common, Lionel still sold the 107 and 170 reducers for those who had only DC.  One method used to power toy trains was to run them directly off the power line, with a parallel bank of incandescent lamps in series with the track.  Speed could be adjusted by screwing the lamps in and out.  Series motors were used because of the lack of strong permanent magnets.  These were laminated, as universal motors, so that AC could be used as well as DC.  Most toy trains to this day will run well on DC, except for having to have their whistles disabled.

Questions-Answers, p. 27--The suggestion of using "a 120-volt rheostat, available from RadioShack" between the power line and the transformer to slow down a locomotive is not practical.  I think that the reader who suggested it was thinking about a variable auto-transformer ("Variac"), which is a reasonable solution.  However, in any case, Radio Shack does not seem to sell any auto-transformers.

Tips-Tools-Techniques, p 29--I believe that a Lego brick comes in widths that, like its length, are multiples of 5/16 inch (or, more likely, 8 millimeters), not 3/8 inch, not that that matters for this application.  The height is 3/8 inch (9.6 millimeters).