Grandad needs help again

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Most points motors work in more or less the same way. In essence you have two electric magnets at either end of a unit about 2" long, between them is a lump of metal with a rod on it. As a magnet is energised the lump of metal is pulled towards it ... and thus the rod which sticks out from it. The rod pokes through from underneath the track through the tiebar of the points (the tiebar is that little piece of plastic that joins the two moving rails (blades).

PECO motors come in various types, some clip directly onto the underside of the point itself - which is dead easy to do, the same type used on a mounting plate can go under the baseboard and they have a similar version with a long rod for thick baseboards ... but I don't think that it's 3"+ long (stand to be corrected). My advice would be to reduce the depth of the baseboard under the points, one method I've used is to simply cut a hole into the baseboard large enough for the point motor to fit into and sick a piece of thick paper or thin card between the point motor and the point itself (to disguise the hole).

I've found that using a capacity discharge unit (CDU) has improved point motor performance considerably.

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"capacitor"

Chris

Not sure this will help but I have recently been playing with Fleishmann track in N. These points with motors are slightly more expensive in N than a Peco point and Peco motor but for the ham fisted they make life much easier. You need to use Fleishmann rail joiners (at least in N) as the Peco track and joiners are physically smaller and Peco joiners split if you try and use them. The points are not as realistic as the Peco type and the curved points are a very tight radius (7.5 inches on the inner curve in N) which is too tight for some locos (modern Graham Farish) but I do not know the geometry of the OO/HO stuff. The flat point motor attaches to the side of the point, however these can be turned upside down so they lie below the level of the track. This does mean you have to have something under the track which you can cut into to make room. The track is 'ready ballasted' but still needs a lick of paint to tone down the shiny rails if you are doing that elsewhere, and between the tracks needs a bit of ballast gluing down - Where the point motors are recessed into the board stop short of the area with the glue and loose ballast, then cover the motor with a strip of paper with ballast pre-glued to one side. The points have an over-run trip to protect them from too muck current when switching (they turn themseves off at the end of their travel, no idea how, yet)

Chris may be able to comment on the Japanese track systems he uses, the point motor is built into the underside of the point, no idea on pricee though and you need an 'adapter' track to join these to Peco track.

HTH

Mike

Hornby types have always been weedy affairs. They are a two coil solenoid (one for each direction). Hence they are wired to a common and a momentary contact switch for each direction. They are designed for a burst of current but not to be kept permanently energised as they will burn out. ROCO now do some excellent ready motorised points and there are better motors made by SEEP and TORTOISE to fit separately. I think for your purposes, motorise the points in stages, prioritise the points that are more remote or difficult to reach. Do this a finances permit and go for the best. regards, Steve

Thank you all for your advice

............................Leslie

One other option is to use wire-in-tube, many model shops sell stiff 'piano wire' and some sell bowden cable (you only want the tube as the stranded wire is a bit more difficult to deal with). Both are cheap.

To operate the point one option is to buy small slide switches, most people bed these into the board, drill a hole in the slider and bend the wire to suit however I built a layout on a shelf once (similar to your using a door) so I araldited the switch to a scrap of plastic card, the card being larger than the switch, this could then be screwed down at the edge of the baseboard. The piano wire was bent up through a hole in the slider (I did try just wrapping it round the slider but the drilled hole was neater). The switch then functions as a point lever and also controls the electricity supply, allowing you to use live frog points without relying on the blades for contact.

I tried to find one of mine to photograph (hence delay) but they all seem to have gone.

HTH

Mike

Only motorise those points that are well out of arms reach. An 18 inch or so length of heavy gauge (say 16 SWG) wire, perhaps a bit of coathanger with an end bent at right angles can be used to operate Peco points up to 3 ft away from the layouts edge. I've used this arrangement for ten years or so. Keep it simple and cheap. Regards, Bill.