what gauge wire for 022 switches....

[Anonymous]

I'm looking to rewire all my switches, What guage wire did Lionel use
on there 022 postwar switches?

Also how hard would it be to use push button switches inside of the
controlers for ucs tracks? (I have a couple of empty housing, would like to
use them with more current switches, but keep the old style look)

[ben10ben]

All of the O22 rewiring I've done has been with 24 gauge stranded wire I got from Radio Shack. I also generally take a piece of 22 gauge solid and use it to reinforce the poorly designed solder joint inside of the base. The one connected to the non-derailing strap on the curved leg.

For replacing the O22 switches with pushbuttons, there is actually an article about this in the latest CTT.

[lionelsoni]

Another way to operate switches is to put studs on a simplified map of your layout, each wired to a switch coil. Then use a grounded probe to throw switches by touching the studs. (Screw heads will do for studs.)

There are situations where you can simplify the controls when switches will always be thrown together. For example, the two switches of a crossover can be wired to the same controller (or pushbuttons or studs), since they will always be both diverging or both not diverging at the same time.