DCC And Micro Engineering Switches

[pcarrell]

I am in Nscale but I know that the HO switches are basically the same so, the question is...

Has anyone figured out how to modify these ME switches for DCC and keep the spring?

I have a couple of tortise switches but I was just wondering.

Also, if I have to change out the drawbar between the points and solder in a new one out of circuit board, how do I keep the points in their same relationship while I'm doing this?

Any help would be quite welcome as I have never attempted this before.

Thanks,

[Anonymous]

Micro engineering sells DCC friendly turnouts now in HO scale, I'm not sure about N scale. I have done the modifications to older ME switches and haven't found a way to save the spring when you replace the throwbar. Since you are in N scale, the tolerances and soldering skills required (because of the size and close proximity of parts, I would think that it would be easier to melt stuff on accident) may make modifying your switches harder than the same proceedures in HO .

The points are easy to solder back on the new throw bar....Solder one of them in the approximate spot you want it and then hold it against the stock rail to measure the gap for the other point. I'm sure there is a part of the NMRA gauge for this but I find it easy to eyeball. If you mess up, just unsolder and reposition the point until you get it right. The points need to be in the correct vertical alignment (don't let them ride up too high when you solder). The other tricky part is being fairly quick and accurate with the iron to not melt anything. The circuit board ties can be purchased from Cloverhouse (google em"). You might also check out Alan Gartner's site and look up the switch section.

I have modified a bunch of these and I think that I will buy the DCC friendly version in the future as much as possible. It takes a while to do the mods and I find that life is awfully short for this type of thing. However, if you are a thrifty guy like me (my friends use the word cheap) and have a bunch of older switches you want to modify, I would not be hesitant about diving in....