OO gauge point lever

[heart-of-wessex]

Hello all,

My landlord got a Hornby layout set for his birthday, the West Coast Highlander set. It's not for permanent use, just going to put it on thr track mat and mess about then put it away.

I said you could get a point lever to switch the points to thr siding, but it's been so long since I had one of those I couldnt remember how it works.

I've since looked it up and saw you but the two wires into the screws on the controller, thats the old black box one with a red dial, the controller he has is something very different! I can't remember where the other wires went but either case I'm not sure it will even work.

Is there a simple to use point lever switch that would be suitable for a layout thats going to be put together for a few hours then put away? Obviously a complicated computerised mrga setup isn't going to be practical.


Any help is appreciated

 

[QueensCurve]

Hello all,

My landlord got a Hornby layout set for his birthday, the West Coast Highlander set. It's not for permanent use, just going to put it on thr track mat and mess about then put it away.

I said you could get a point lever to switch the points to thr siding, but it's been so long since I had one of those I couldnt remember how it works.

I've since looked it up and saw you but the two wires into the screws on the controller, thats the old black box one with a red dial, the controller he has is something very different! I can't remember where the other wires went but either case I'm not sure it will even work.

Is there a simple to use point lever switch that would be suitable for a layout thats going to be put together for a few hours then put away? Obviously a complicated computerised mrga setup isn't going to be practical.

Any help is appreciated

Back in the days of Trian-Hornby you used to be able to buy levers which had sort of dowels on one side to match holes in the other so they could connect together to form a lever frame. They came in different colour for signals, S&C etc. Are they no longer available?

 

[hairyhandedfool]

Back in the days of Trian-Hornby you used to be able to buy levers which had sort of dowels on one side to match holes in the other so they could connect together to form a lever frame. They came in different colour for signals, S&C etc. Are they no longer available?

Very much still available.

R044 - Passing contact (black) for point motors
R046 - On-On (yellow) for signals
R047 - On-Off (green) for anything that needs switching off

They aren't cheap though.....

 

[Zamracene749]

Presumably the points already have a solenoid type point motor fitted?

If so, it can be controlled either by using two pushbuttons or a momentary centre off rocker switch, (about 3 quid from maplins etc) Failing that, an old really cheap method was to use two nails/screws and a metal stylus. The key issue in controlling solenoids is that the current must only run for a very brief time, otherwise the solenoid coil will overheat and burn out.

Connect the black (centre) wire of the point motor to the negative supply on the controller's auxiliary ouptut- 12-15v Ac or dc- doesn't matter. Screw a couple of screws into a bit of wood, wrapping the point motor red wire around one screw and the green around the other. Run a wire from the positive of the auxiliary supply and attach a suitable metallic item to the end (an old multimeter test probe would be ideal), but at a pinch an old nail will do.

Briefly touching one screw will shift the points one way, touching the other will move them back.....

 

[TheEdge]

Actually reading the OP's post it looks like the set in question is going to be used like a train set, out to play with then back in the box.

To really automate a set of points, even only a wire in tube method the points need to be fixed down. Saying that a simple wire in tube could work but even then you will risk pushing the points out of position rather than switching them. No real way you could ever hope to get a solenoid motor to throw points that are not fixed, more likely to damage or even brake them.

My advice would be to see if your landlord would feel like tacking the track down to the smallest bit of MDF it will fit on so it could be easily stored. With the pre-drilled holes in settrack it would take less than 30 minutes to do. If he would do that you could then use various bits of the Peco-lectrics range to surface mount a point motor and with their easy wiring looms and mounts set it up with no soldering or the like. A single solenoid motor could easily be fed off the auxiliary output.

 

[Zamracene749]

Hi, I had in mind the old fashioned hornby triang point motors that could clip to the point itself!
An interesting solution to allow usage of more modern surface mount point motors on 'carpet mounted' train sets using superglue and plastic packaging is here.... http://www.modelrailforum.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=8087

Although I agree that carpet running has loads of drawbacks, not least the loco motors getting clagged up with lint.......memories of the 70's with my beloved Hornby class 29 and Lima deltic stripped down, picking oily fluff out of the ringfield motor and gears with a compass point.......

 

[heart-of-wessex]

Hello all,

A big thanks for your responses, but as pointed out, yes it is very much ad-hoc, just now and again, probably only once a month or two. I would suggest mounting a board to a wall that you can fold up, but it's an old small house, and a lot of the space is taken my his, and my, plane models.

It's not set up on the carpet so to speak, it's put on the supplied Track Mat. I was just wondering if there's anything quick and easy mechanically that could be done, don't think he's interested in setting up wires etc. Not to worry though, and thank you very much for your ideas, much appreciated