wiring 1121 switches

[hedcase05]

Hello all

I have a question about wiring an old set of 1121 Lionel switches.

Currently, I have them wired directly to the switch controllers with a section of power track right in front of them for better power.  But, even running the track at full power with an engine on it gives the switches enough power to switch.  The layout on this one table is basically just a 4x8 loop.  The outer loop is run on my KW A post while the Inner loop is run on the B post.

Is there a way to wire the switches to a fixed post in some way to give them a little more power?

I've got more than enough power to work with: 2 KWs a ZW and a 1033 working on four 4x8 tables.

Any help would be appreciated!

 

-Ben 

[ADCX Rob]

Not easily.

You can disassemble the switches & extract the wire common to the two coils(normally connected to the center rail) and connect it to accessory power.

This actually works well with the 1121 switches as they don't have a built-in non-derailing feature and are less likely to burn out.

Rob

[San Jose]

To add to Rob's comment:: to get at the common wire in question, one has to grind down the rivets in the 1121s - the most difficult part in my opinion.  Once this is done, it is straightforward to reroute the wire common to the coils to which Rob refers. 

This works very well but as Rob pointed out to me a while ago, one has to COMPLETELY isolate the outer rail of the appropriate tracks from the center rail.  

Nino (San Jose)