rlandry6 wrote:I seem to recall reading about using an Atlas switch machine turned upside down and embedded in the foam alongside the turnout. Has anyone ever done this?
You would have to do some surgery to the throw bar as well. The bars are designed for a horizontal wire connection. The Atlas machine probably won't work in a vertical configuration, because then it has to deal with gravity to move the core, and I doubt that it has enough power to do that.
I did take one Atlas under-table machine and glue it directly to the bottom of a turnout, kind of like a Peco mount. Then I hollowed out the roadbed and a bit of the foam underneath. It's on a little-used siding, but it seems to work pretty well. Of course, if it fails, I'll have to rip up the turnout to fix it. Also, you can't throw the turnout manually.
Lately, I've been making scenic covers out of plaster cloth. I put a longer throw bar on one turnout and put the machine a few inches away in a building, too.
Here, the machine for the turnout in the center of the picture is under the "salad" in the foreground, and the machine for the one on the right side is inside the Swift packing plant.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
rlandry6 wrote:Going back to the PS question... Besides operating 2 turnouts conneced as in a crossover, one of my goals is to control routes using momentary switches and diodes so I may need to operated 4-5 turnouts at once. I need a power supply that will handle that. Would I be better off with a Digitrax Ps and be done with it? What about a computer PS/
Going back to the PS question... Besides operating 2 turnouts conneced as in a crossover, one of my goals is to control routes using momentary switches and diodes so I may need to operated 4-5 turnouts at once. I need a power supply that will handle that. Would I be better off with a Digitrax Ps and be done with it? What about a computer PS/
Easiest way to achieve your goal is a capacitive discharge (CD) unit. A CD unit can be used without a huge power supply backing it up, yet can deliver power to throw 10 switch machines simultaneously if you desire. Circuitron makes a commercial version; there are circuits at http://home.cogeco.ca/~rpaisley4/CDPSU.html and other web sites to build your own. With a CD power supply a one amp 16VAC power supply is sufficient to charge the capacitor(s). The diode matirx hooks downstream of the CD unit.
Hope this helps
Fred W
See Andy Reichert's Proto87 Stores site for some handy turnout control stuff...
www.proto87.com/page66.html
gh
In the April 2007 issue, "In the Workshop", they show a method of mounting Tortoise switch machines in 2" foam.
Take a look, it appears to simplify the process greatly.
Autobus Prime wrote: tomikawaTT wrote: My switch machines (and hand throws, aka electrical switches with mechanical linkages) are mounted along the aisle edge of the layout, connected to the turnouts by cable and bellcrank linkages. Final drive is an Anderson link, basically a vertical tube through which a torsion link connects the turnout throw arm at the top to the bellcrank at the bottom. I don't believe that a long tube would be any different from the shorter tubes I use, but you might have to find a different material for the torsion link (mine are made of straightened paper clips!)Chuck (moeling Central Japan in September, 1964)TTT:What do you use for the lower crank? Do you just bend the lower end of the wire after inserting it into the tube?
tomikawaTT wrote: My switch machines (and hand throws, aka electrical switches with mechanical linkages) are mounted along the aisle edge of the layout, connected to the turnouts by cable and bellcrank linkages. Final drive is an Anderson link, basically a vertical tube through which a torsion link connects the turnout throw arm at the top to the bellcrank at the bottom. I don't believe that a long tube would be any different from the shorter tubes I use, but you might have to find a different material for the torsion link (mine are made of straightened paper clips!)Chuck (moeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
My switch machines (and hand throws, aka electrical switches with mechanical linkages) are mounted along the aisle edge of the layout, connected to the turnouts by cable and bellcrank linkages. Final drive is an Anderson link, basically a vertical tube through which a torsion link connects the turnout throw arm at the top to the bellcrank at the bottom. I don't believe that a long tube would be any different from the shorter tubes I use, but you might have to find a different material for the torsion link (mine are made of straightened paper clips!)
Chuck (moeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
That's what I do with the short tube model. The torsion link in 2 dimensions is a sloppy Z, with the upper arm parallel to the rails and the lower arm parallel to the fascia.
The paper clips I use straighten out to 4.75 inches, long enough for my needs but too short to use with a 4 inch plus tube length. The larger paper clips I have are long enough, but are made with much heavier wire - close to code 40 rail in size!
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
One of the cool things about foam is that you can tunnel from underneath pretty easily and no one will see.
You can get close to the surface and glue a 3" x 3" piece of 1/4 in ply to the foam. Then you can mount your switch machine.
Chip
Building the Rock Ridge Railroad with the slowest construction crew west of the Pecos.
I seem to remember reading something about using a standard Atlas switch machine and embedding it upside down by the turnout with the actuator post sticking up.
Has anyone ever tried this?
MisterBeasley wrote: I've got to ask: Why 2 layers of 2-inch foam? 1 layer of this stuff is very stiff, and will easily span 16 inches or more of benchwork. Unless you plan to do a lot of carving for valleys, the second layer only adds cost and complexity.
I've got to ask: Why 2 layers of 2-inch foam? 1 layer of this stuff is very stiff, and will easily span 16 inches or more of benchwork. Unless you plan to do a lot of carving for valleys, the second layer only adds cost and complexity.
My layout is in a small room. It's basically a folded dogbone that goes along three walls. The terrain is going to be rough/mountain and I don't have a lot of room for long inclines to elevations. By using two thicknesses, I can carve down for canyons, gulleys, etc to help the illusion of height. Plus, I ran across a real deal on the foam and I had plenty with a lot left over. I got 6 sheets for $25.
Yep, I bent the wire after it was in the tube. That means you need to know in advance of placing the magnets how long to make it. The only adjustment later is to physically move the magnet assembly. I appologise for the large photos.. will make them smaller next time.
George
tomikawaTT wrote:My switch machines (and hand throws, aka electrical switches with mechanical linkages) are mounted along the aisle edge of the layout, connected to the turnouts by cable and bellcrank linkages. Final drive is an Anderson link, basically a vertical tube through which a torsion link connects the turnout throw arm at the top to the bellcrank at the bottom. I don't believe that a long tube would be any different from the shorter tubes I use, but you might have to find a different material for the torsion link (mine are made of straightened paper clips!)Chuck (moeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Try the old piano-wire-in-the-tube trick. I've had good luck with remotely-mounted switch magnets that push/pull on a long piano wire that runs thru a 1/8 inch brass tube that runs on the surface of the subroadbed and tunnels into the cork roadbed, stopping just short of the (convenient) hole in the throwbar. The wire exits the tube and is bent 90 degrees upwards to move the bar. The tube gets buried in the ballast or scenery. There's a link around here somewhere to a couple of photos I put in a conversation last spring. Try a search on my id: BigG that should lead you to it.
Have fun, George
Edit: I found the link for you. I was guesting on another id: jlj30 and the title was: Switchmaster versus Switch Tender turnout motors.
Sorry for the confusion.... G
Well,
I took the cheater way out, and used the snap on the side machines with my Atlas turnouts. Having used them for 20 years, I don't find them as objectionable as some people do.
Nick
Take a Ride on the Reading with the: Reading Company Technical & Historical Society http://www.readingrailroad.org/
I've got the same question. So it'd be better to essentially cut a hole in the foam below the switch in order to mount the switch machine?
I too am running Atlas. N scale, code 80 track. Maybe I'm better off buying the uglier switches for the lesser-seen portions of track, and then attempting the under-table machines for the closer-to-view parts?
I'm in HO, but even there, Atlas under-table machines won't even work through a single layer of 2-inch foam, or even 1-inch foam with roadbed. You would need to go with something like a Tortoise. Even that's going to be awkward with that much foam, though.
Peco switch machines mount directly to the bottom of the turnout. You need to cut out a hole for them, but then you don't need a long linkage all the way down to the underside of the layout. Peco switch machines will only work with Peco turnouts, though. They depend on the internal spring of the turnout, which other turnouts do not have.