buying a switch stand.

Maybe a nearby railroad? That's where I got mine about 20 years ago, they had a pile of them that were removed and were available. They sold them for the value of the scrap metal - cost me $20.

Keep in mind full sized switch stands are very heavy! You can't just throw one in the trunk of your car and lug it home. I estimate mine probably weighed 3-400 pounds. I was lucky that I was in charge of our vehicles where I worked, and had one of the drivers pick mine up using a 5-ton truck that had a hyrdaulic crane on it.

Mounting it can be an effort too. I made a base out of concrete, using a form made from 2" by 8" boards, and imbedded bolts into the concrete that I later set the stand onto (got them at work too!). For concrete I used several bags of premixed stuff that you just add water to. Also embedded in the concrete was a piece of plastic wire so I could run a power cord up the stand to be able to light the lantern mounted on top. The power line runs into the garage where it is attached to a timer that makes the light come on at dusk for 3-4 hours.

Lotsa fun!

Good luck!

Bob Boudreau Canada

You don't happen to be in the NY area do you? If not, what you need to do is find the MOW yard closest to your home. There are some somewhat new models that basically self destruct when run through, and you could probably get one like that for junk metal price. There are also older models that required too much effort to throw that are getting phased out that are also considered basically junk. -- dw