Is there an illuminated switch control that will work on a 6-5122 Lionel switch? I tried a lighted control that I have. It controls the switch but the light doesn't change. Bulbs are good. Operating on track power with Lionel Lionchief. Thanks!
Was the controller you used like in this link?
https://www.ebay.com/i/292996811292?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-117182-37290-0&mkcid=2&itemid=292996811292&targetid=595076245328&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=9032878&poi=&campaignid=1689407474&mkgroupid=74365777868&rlsatarget=pla-595076245328&abcId=1140476&merchantid=6296724&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIscKr3qPH4wIV8R6tBh34Nw05EAQYAiABEgKk-PD_BwE
swede
An important difference between Lionel O-27 and O-31 turnouts is that the O-31 types incorporate, for each solenoid, an internal electrical switch that disconnects the solenoid from the controller after it throws the track switch. The controller lamp draws its current through the solenoid and that electrical switch, so the lamp corresponding to the last solenoid used is disconnected and not lit. The other lamp, which is lit, therefore indicates the track-switch position, but does not draw enough current through the solenoid to throw the track switch.
The O-27 turnouts lack the internal electrical switches. So, when an O-31 controller is used with an O-27 turnout, both lamps light, making them useless for indicating the track-switch position. The lack of the electrical switches makes the O-27 turnouts vulnerable to being destroyed when a train is parked on the turnout with the track voltage turned on. I suspect that this is why they are designed to be powered only from the track voltage, to reduce the chance that this would happen.
Another difference, which you have probably discovered, is that the turnouts' terminals are ordered differently.
The earlier 1121C and 1122C controllers had shutters that were moved by the controller handles, to uncover red and green filters that showed the last movement of the handles. However, there was no way that they could indicate when the track switch had been thrown by the non-derailing feature.
Bob Nelson
In the September, 2019, CTT, Louis D'Antuono asks the Q-and-A column why his 1122 turnout buzzes, but stops when he manipulates the controller. I would have suggested that he experiment with removing the lamp from the controller.
The 1122 uses current from one of the solenoids for a single lamp to illuminate all of the red and green indicater lights on the controller. If that lamp draws enough current, it can cause the switch machine to buzz or even throw the track switch. If buzzing is the only symptom, a lower-current lamp (I recommend a number 53)may fix things. In any case, removing the lamp entirely and living without the (imperfect) controller indication is a solution.
No.
SteveS Is there an illuminated switch control that will work on a 6-5122 Lionel switch? Thanks!
Is there an illuminated switch control that will work on a 6-5122 Lionel switch? Thanks!
What Al says is true, if by "work" you mean "reliably indicate the switch position". But if you would be satisfied by a controller that indicated instead the switch position the last time you threw it manually, one of the 1121C or 1122C controllers with shutters will do that.
Note that this is a dual controller, with two levers, for controlling a pair of turnouts, that draws current for a single illuminating lamp from only one of the two turnouts to which it is connected. So the lever that you use to control your single turnout must be the one associated with the lamp.
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