Trains.com

Manual - Remote control Switches

1617 views
2 replies
1 rating 2 rating 3 rating 4 rating 5 rating
  • Member since
    April 2003
  • 305,205 posts
Manual - Remote control Switches
Posted by Anonymous on Saturday, December 25, 2004 10:26 PM
Here is a neat little idea, I thought I’d share with you. In my layout room we have 3 model railroads staked on top of each other. Ho , N, G Ho on the bottom and G on the top. With the G scale at or near my eye level reaching switches was a real pain. This ment climbing up a step stool throwing the switch, then dragging the step stool down the isle and climbing back up it to get the next. UUGGG! Welp my railroading budget is NOW vary small. So not only where electric switch machines to expensive but the N scale model railroad just 7” underneath the G scale made remote control switch’s out of the question. One of my friends said he had seen an article how someone used a coat hanger to throw the switch. Its really simple, The coat hanger runs threw the edge of the layout and threw a small block of wood and is bent up threw the plywood table top into the switch throw bar. Then you put a loop on the end of the coat hanger, and wal – la you have a remote controlled manual switch. I then added a small lever that locks the switch in place ( for the mainline in normal position ). This was necessary because we found that when walking up and down the isle we bumped the coat hanger rods and left a switch ½ open. This is bad when your G scale is 5’ 6” off the floor. Sense these manual remote controls have been added I have found the layout much easer to run and have had many ours of enjoyment.

This is the walkway with 3 scales of model railroads:


This shows the top view of one of my Manual - Remote control Switches:


here ypu see a switch controll locked in the noraml pos.



here it is in the open Pos.



Here is the under view. te wood block provides support for the coat hanger:
[;)]
  • Member since
    January 2014
  • 1,264 posts
Posted by bman36 on Sunday, December 26, 2004 4:25 PM
Hey there,
Thanks for the tip! Enjoy the forum! Later eh...Brian.
  • Member since
    April 2003
  • 305,205 posts
Posted by Anonymous on Sunday, December 26, 2004 5:42 PM
I really cannot understand why you are doing all this. Their is only one sacle and that "G" scale and all the rest are for kids. I also cannot understand why you are running G scale indoors.


Puzzled

Search the Community

FREE EMAIL NEWSLETTER

Get the Garden Railways newsletter delivered to your inbox twice a month

By signing up you may also receive occasional reader surveys and special offers from Garden Railways magazine. Please view our privacy policy