Take a look at page 68 of the Sept Model Railroader and tell me what you think of this method of turnout control.
thanks
What I think is that MR is recycling old articles as new ideas. I built those same turnout controls back in the 1970's for an N-scale shelf layout. And I am assuming I got the idea out of an MR article. Of course it's entirely possible that I was a genius several decades ahead of my time....
Seriously, it's not inappropriate for MR to recycle old articles, after all there are probably lots of current readers who were still in diapers when the original article appreared. Still I would have liked to seen some acknowledgement of the fact that this technique has been around for years. What's next? An article on benchwork using the revolutionary new L-girder system? Or a new alternative power routing approach to DCC; called "cab control".
I have figured out what is wrong with my brain! On the left side nothing works right, and on the right side there is nothing left!
Actually, to be fair, the author of that article does say that he remembered an article by Bill Darnaby from the April 1998 issue of MR. (I guess that I could go back and look at that article and see if Darnaby credited any previous "inventors"). He also says that he tried it but had some difficulties.
What is actually "new" about the article is the mounting bracket and some modifications the author came up with to make the installation easier.
Correct. I used the Bill D switch controls for years and although they were good, the solder joints tended to get weak over time.
I like the idea of the bracket, should make it a lot easier to mount them.
Larry
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ClinchValleySD40 wrote: Correct. I used the Bill D switch controls for years and although they were good, the solder joints tended to get weak over time.I like the idea of the bracket, should make it a lot easier to mount them. Larry
So the $5000 question is when using that set-up, was there ever a time you wished you had not?
One of the easiest mounts I've used was designed by Jeff Otto. Its a rectangle of masonite with hole cut in the middle for the stem of a toggle switch to go through. Then you just use 4 1 5/8 or 2" drywall screws along side the piece of masonite to hold it in place and clamp it down.
Here is the bracket and one installed on a toggle:
Here is one installed under my layout, note that 4 drywall screws hold the bracket and toggle in and a 1/4 in dowell with a brass rod through it is being used as a pushrod:
Dave H.
Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com
maxman wrote:Actually, to be fair, the author of that article does say that he remembered an article by Bill Darnaby from the April 1998 issue of MR. (I guess that I could go back and look at that article and see if Darnaby credited any previous "inventors"). He also says that he tried it but had some difficulties.What is actually "new" about the article is the mounting bracket and some modifications the author came up with to make the installation easier.
Actually, I've never read the Darnaby article, so I'm not sure what the differences are between his techniques and Mr. Hildebrandt. The turnout controls I built out of the 70's article did use brass mounting brackets. It's completely possible that Mr. Hildebrandt had no knowledge of the previous article, as it was so long ago. I would have thought the editors would have caught it though.
I recently fabricated 4 more of the same devices to use in a new shelf-RR project, and in fact Idid a little recycling of my own. I found several of the original slide switches from the old shelf layout still residing in my junk drawer. Saves me from having to re-drill all those holes.
I think the idea of recycling older articles is good.
I started reading MR in 1978. There are many who began in the hobby earlier than that, of course, but there are very many people who have only been involved in the hobby for 10 years or even less.
Judicious use of old, but still relevant pieces in the magazine can be very benificial for everyone, even if just to refresh the memory of the longer-standing subscribers.
Elmer.
The above is my opinion, from an active and experienced Model Railroader in N scale and HO since 1961.
(Modeling Freelance, Eastern US, HO scale, in 1962, with NCE DCC for locomotive control and a stand alone LocoNet for block detection and signals.) http://waynes-trains.com/ at home, and N scale at the Club.
".............Still I would have liked to seen some acknowledgement of the fact that this technique has been around for years.........."
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This was the comment that I was responding to. I just wanted to point out that I believed that the current author was pretty clear in saying that he had seen the idea elsewhere. I did go back and look at the Darnaby article and even he says that he saw the idea on someone else's railroad. So both authors have, so far as I'm concerned, been careful to point out that they did not invent the idea. Neither implied that this was a new idea.
Regarding "recycling" of articles, I'm not sure that if someone takes an idea and improves upon it we should say that is necessarily recycling. To use as an example something remotely related to your L-girder comment, take spline roadbed. Someone originally came up with the idea to slice wood into thin strips and assemble it into spline. Someone else came along and did the same thing with sliced hardboard. Then someone said that sliced Homasote was better. The last article I remember used small diameter plastic pipe. Are these not all basically the same idea, an improved "bracket" if you will?
Both of the articles appear to have been written with the original slide switch idea applied to foam board construction. I don't remember foam board being presented as a layout construction material back in the 70's. So the slide switch is not what's new. The mounting bracket design, if it has not been written about before, is.
Regards!
WaxonWaxov wrote: Take a look at page 68 of the Sept Model Railroader and tell me what you think of this method of turnout control.thanks
The method is time-tested, as others have pointed out. The first time I saw mention of it was in RMC in 1982 and later on in the May 1985 issue of MR. Since then, I've seen several variations and have used it successfully on three layouts.
Most recently, I have been using L-shaped 1/2" metal drawer reinforcements, available at Ace Hardware, Lowe's, etc. They don't have to be fabricated. You just attach them with a suitably-sized nut/bolt/washer set through the mounting plate of the DPDT switch and screw them into the bottom of the layout with 3/4" wood screws. The DPDT lays on its side. You can run a fairly long piece of stiff wire through the layout fascia with a knob expoxied on the end to control it. I even have some with bell cranks to control turnouts that are at a distance of over three feet and at right angles to the fascia.
John Timm
WaxonWaxov wrote: ClinchValleySD40 wrote: Correct. I used the Bill D switch controls for years and although they were good, the solder joints tended to get weak over time.I like the idea of the bracket, should make it a lot easier to mount them. Larry So the $5000 question is when using that set-up, was there ever a time you wished you had not?
Nope. Loved them, kept hands off the layout (along with using uncouple magnets). Was in too big of a hurry on current layout, so just went with Caboose Ind ground throws.
I'm familiar with the Otto brackets Dave talks about. Really good and speeds up the process.