I have a O-42 manual switch in my yard. I wanted to have a dwarf signal show the position of the switch points. I took the switch apart, soldered a contact arm to the moving arm assembly inside the switch. I made 2 contact points that the arm makes contact with when the switch is thrown. I had to drill a hole in the base of the switch to run the wires. I ran the circuit through a set of diodes and resistors to light either a green or yellow LED, depending on the position of the switch. The dwarf signal I made out of flat sheet Styrene for the signal face, 1/4" tube styrene for the LED hood and 3/16" tube for the mast. Additional wiring could be run to your control panel for a set of LEDs.
Steve
If you put the microswitch on the turnout, you don't need the latching relay. The microswitch can operate any lights, whether at the turnout or at the controller and, as you point out, cannot be fooled by throwing the turnout manually.
I doubt that the capacitive-discharge circuit will fit inside the controller. The capacitor itself is too big for that.
Bob Nelson
It is interesting that this question comes up today. Only yesterday was I thinking of the same thing after picking up a 1121 controller at a train show Sunday. There has been some other question of this in the past fe weeks, and that and the train show are why I was thinking of it. I was also thinking of Bob Nelson's capacative discharge system for 0_27 switches. My favorite switch is the 1122E, as I like O_27 when I build a layout. Right now I don't have a layout, but will do something for Christmas and maybe try to incorporate some swithces.
My thoughts. As Bob states, it isn't easy, but you can add some circuit. I was thinking of removing the shutters from the controller. Add a circuit board to the controller that incorportates the capacitive discharge circuit. At the same time add your circuit for the lights. The switch is always going to be in one position or the other, so one light should always be on. Use the discharge of the cap as a pick for the latching relay. To keep that Lionel look, I would probably use the same style conductor from the controller to the switch, but maybe with 1 or 2 more conductors. I would add 2 more posts at the switch for whatever use I need, again making it look Lionel, The only thing at the switch to use track power would be the bulb. The power to the controller would come from the transformer, and ground would be dependent on the tracks, unless you want to add another conductor. I am sure with some work you could have it all, and even rug runners would now have the advantage of the discharge system. The micro switches tat the switch would be added, incase some turn the lantern manually. Bob...your thoughts
Alan
No. Unlike the 022 and some other turnouts, these do not disconnect the switch-motor coil after throwing, which is how the 022 controller knows the turnout's position.
It is possible to add some extra circuitry, such as a latching relay, to duplicate the turnout's operation, then use that to operate the lights. You can also do it by adding a microswitch to the turnout for the lights, but this is not a simple modification.
I have an external led light post with red and green lights. Is there a way to hook it up to the switch so it shows the correct way the switch is thrown? I tried various combinations of the wires and I could get it to light up but not match switch position. Along the same lines is there a way to attach LED lights to the 5122 controller which has no lights?
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