Peco Switch Machine Vs Tortoise

[Anonymous]

Hello Everyone,
Hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season.
My question is I don't know which one is better to use on my layout, the Peco switch machine or the tortoise machine. I'm using Peco turnouts,N gauge,Code 80 Peco Flex track. The Peco is half the cost but I don't want to compromise because of cost. Which one is easier to install?Does the Peco mount under the bench work with only drilling a hole to slip the pin thru or is there more to it? I also read somewhere you need to drill a hole in your benchwork to clear the motor or am I misunderstanding.
My last question is can I go about laying my track work and adding either one of these later on? In other words are there any steps I need to do to add switch machines later on?
Thank You All for your help.

Louie

[rrinker]

The Peco machines clip on to the bottom of the Peco switches, you need to cut out a hole for it to drop into from the top. Depending on what you are using for your benchwork, it could be easy or hard to do. I use 2" thick extruded foam insulation, and I put even my Tortoise machines in from the top, I find it easier than the 'recommended' method of drilling the hole and putting the Tortoise underneath.
To install something after the fact, neither is particularly 'easy' although I think it would be a lot easier to retrofit a Tortoise after the track is laid. here are tricks to doing so without ripping up the track. To install a peco machine after the track is laid, I don't know how you'd do it other than pull up the switch, attach the machine, and relay the track.
If you install during the tracklaying phase, there's nothing wrong with using the Peco machines. They are a snap action device, not a slow motion machine, and should you ever go to electronic control of some sort like for a dispatcher panel or DCC, it's a lot easier and cheaper to buy/buuild a circuit to control the low current Tortoise than a twin-coil machine like the Peco. The nice thing about using the peco switches is they have that built in spring so you can use them with NO machine or other mechanism attached, right out of the box.

--Randy

[BR60103]

Louie: you get a choice with the Peco. You can cut a hole under the points just a bit bigger than the switch machine and mount the machine to the switch, or you can drill a hole and poke the wire up from below. Peco make a special PL10E with an extended operating wire for this. I think it's limited to about 1/2" baseboard. There's an extension for the operating wire included with the PL10, but it's tricky to get right.