Trains.com

k-line switches

7269 views
11 replies
1 rating 2 rating 3 rating 4 rating 5 rating
  • Member since
    April 2003
  • 305,205 posts
k-line switches
Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, February 4, 2006 7:43 PM
Could someone please provide me with the product numbers for the low profile k-line switches for 027 track? I understand that these switches are preferable to lionel. Also, if anyone knows of a good supplier. Thanks.

Larry
  • Member since
    April 2003
  • From: Willoughby, Ohio
  • 5,231 posts
Posted by spankybird on Saturday, February 4, 2006 8:02 PM
LH = K-0265 and RH = L-0266

Off hand don't know of any good places to buy them.

I am a person with a very active inner child. This is why my wife loves me so. Willoughby, Ohio - the home of the CP & E RR. OTTS Founder www.spankybird.shutterfly.com 

  • Member since
    December 2005
  • From: Hopewell, NY
  • 3,230 posts
Posted by ADCX Rob on Saturday, February 4, 2006 8:33 PM
O-27:

K-0263 O-27 27" Manual Switch LH
K-0264 O-27 27" Manual Switch RH
K-0265 O-27 27" Remote Switch LH
K-0266 O-27 27" Remote Switch RH

For the 42" path O-27 switches:

K-0273 O-27 42" Manual Switch LH
K-0274 O-27 42" Manual Switch RH
K-0275 O-27 42" Remote Switch LH
K-0276 O-27 42" Remote Switch RH

Rob

Rob

  • Member since
    December 2003
  • From: Central PA
  • 2,536 posts
Posted by jefelectric on Saturday, February 4, 2006 8:55 PM
Tower hobbies lists them, don't know it they still have them.

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin/wti0093p?&C=UKP&P=WR

John
John Fullerton Home of the BUBB&A  http://www.jeanandjohn.net/trains.html
  • Member since
    April 2003
  • From: Willoughby, Ohio
  • 5,231 posts
Posted by spankybird on Saturday, February 4, 2006 9:00 PM
Rob - please double check your numbers, I check my boxes and it shows

LH remote 027 = K-0265

RH remote 027 = K-0266

these also agree with thier catalog.

I am a person with a very active inner child. This is why my wife loves me so. Willoughby, Ohio - the home of the CP & E RR. OTTS Founder www.spankybird.shutterfly.com 

  • Member since
    December 2005
  • From: Hopewell, NY
  • 3,230 posts
Posted by ADCX Rob on Saturday, February 4, 2006 9:08 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by spankybird

Rob - please double check your numbers, I check my boxes and it shows

LH remote 027 = K-0265

RH remote 027 = K-0266

these also agree with thier catalog.


That is correct - I did know this and typed all the numbers wrong up one!

I do use the 275/276 switches and love them. With 5 on our Christmas layout this year, I did not have to use any lockons except for the elevated trolley loop. I made all power & common connections right at the binding posts provided!

Rob

Rob

  • Member since
    August 2005
  • From: Florida
  • 409 posts
Posted by otftch on Sunday, February 5, 2006 7:31 AM
I just thought I'd pass this on.We had trouble with our 042 K-line switches.These were early ones and they would not wire correctly.When talking to K-line we were told they had a bad batch from the factory and we should just keep trying diffrerent combinations of wires until they worked.We had two of them and they both ended up wired diffrently but worked well for two years before we remade our layout.
Ed
"Thou must maintaineth thy airspeed lest the ground reach up and smite thee."
  • Member since
    April 2003
  • 305,205 posts
Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, February 5, 2006 3:14 PM
I use the new style 042 switches as crossovers between my 042 in 054 loops. I think they work great. One thing that will drive you nutz if you're used to traditional Lionel switches - the controllers are "handed" left and right! And you can't mix them. They will not work properly. You can't control both a left and a right switch with one controller. The controllers are marked with small, but unmistakable white letters on the bottom. You have been warned. Oh, and the 042 switches can't be arranged "out to out" as a direct crossover. There has to be a short straight between the two. These comments apply directly to the "O" version, but I suspect the 027 is similar.

Old 2037
  • Member since
    December 2005
  • From: Hopewell, NY
  • 3,230 posts
Posted by ADCX Rob on Sunday, February 5, 2006 7:48 PM
QUOTE: Originally posted by Old 2037

the controllers are "handed" left and right! And you can't mix them. They will not work properly. You can't control both a left and a right switch with one controller. The controllers are marked with small, but unmistakable white letters on the bottom.

Old 2037


Just turn the three wire flat cable over just before wiring to the switch... viola! You changed your RH controller to a LH controller!

Lionel used the center conductor for common, K-Line used one of the outside conductors, right for LH switches, Left for RH switches. The other two can be switched with each other to your preference... so you can use one controller for two switches if you desire.

Rob

Rob

  • Member since
    December 2004
  • From: Southwest of Houston. TX
  • 1,082 posts
Posted by jimhaleyscomet on Sunday, February 5, 2006 9:20 PM
I got my K-line 027 switches at Wholesaletrains.com. Just do not try to change your order after you start.

Jim H
  • Member since
    April 2003
  • 305,205 posts
Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, February 7, 2006 8:14 AM


Just turn the three wire flat cable over just before wiring to the switch... viola! You changed your RH controller to a LH controller!



Actually, you just wired your RH controller backwards. Maybe your switches are different, but mine, while they will allow you to turn the wires over, and the switch will operate, the signals will be backwards, that is, the LEDs on the switch and the controller will not agree. Not on my railroad. I have a hard enouh time keeping my trains on the tracks as it is. Red is "out" - green is "through".



Lionel used the center conductor for common, K-Line used one of the outside conductors, right for LH switches, Left for RH switches. The other two can be switched with each other to your preference... so you can use one controller for two switches if you desire.

Rob


Again, your switches may be different, but the center binding post on the switch is clearly marked "GR" - and again, you can futz with the wires all you want - but the indicators will not agree, or the switch will oscillate at 60hz. I suspect this is the way it is because K-Line went to LEDs in the controller. You can't simply swap the red and green lenses like you can on the classic Lionel controllers (and the older K-Line controllers), and maybe they do not want people operating the switches with the signal lights backwards. That's whay they're "handed" now.

Just to clarify, these are the latest production 042 "O" gauge switches purchased about three months ago. They have a low-profile, DZ-1000 look-alike switch machine, with led indicators. They are only shown in the 2005 vol.1 printed catalog - the photos on the K-line website are not correct for the latest production. The 027 and O gauge versions look almost identical in the catalog.

Back to the topic - try Train Express in Indy for the switches. That's where I found mine at an excellent price with fast, friendly service.
  • Member since
    December 2005
  • From: Hopewell, NY
  • 3,230 posts
Posted by ADCX Rob on Tuesday, February 7, 2006 9:38 PM
Old 2037,

You are correct on the controllers! I have 12-13 pairs of the K-275/K-276 switches, and they are all the traditional solenoid/bulb type w/ the 022 type controllers... except for 1 LED type pair which you made me dig out and bring them to the test bench.

For the last 15 years or so I've used K-Line switches, I've never used the controllers! I always have had them on fixed voltage, in reverse loops, &/or wired to SC-1s.

On the LED ("DZ" type) models, they work just like the others, & 022s, for the non-derailing feature, but the "switched to ground" current for the machine is the DC power for the controller LEDs and a small logic bridge in the controller, resulting in dedicated left & right controllers.

On both types, the center conductor is common(goes to "GR" terminal), the outsides for through/out. If you hook up the controller with the through/out wires switched on the LED models, the switch sees both the through & out terminals shorted to ground, and the switch will oscillate between the two positions... the higher the voltage the faster.

The terminals/binding posts on both types, left & right, are the same - from the switch motor out they are ground, through, out, fixed voltage, track voltage.

You can use the 022 type bulb controllers on the newer LED switches, but you have to take the bulbs out, and then they work fine.

Rob

Rob

Join our Community!

Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.

Search the Community

FREE EMAIL NEWSLETTER

Get the Classic Toy Trains newsletter delivered to your inbox twice a month