point motors and hand made points

Use R/C servos or tortoise style point motors.

MBQ

Would a small magnet ( or two) strategically placed on the electromagnet assembly of a Peco or similar point motor, ensure that the moving part stayed in either the one position or the other...

Stay with ebay and look for H&M motors. They are very positive and have their own c.o. switches. I use them in difficult places via rod & tube ( often gluing the tubes to any vertical or by letting posts into the baseboard to support them. Regards

Point motor with over centre lock or those peco plastic bases for their motors have a over centre lock built in

I made over-center springs for my turnouts. As they are permanently fixed to the baseboard there's no reason to make the springs as dinky as the Peco ones. I used a very small diameter brass tube for a pivot vertically through the baseboard at twice the distance from tiebar to point pivot beyond the pivot on a line parallel between point tie bar center and point pivot center. A wire "L" goes through the brass tube pivot with the long arm hooked. Another wire down from the point tie bar and rigidly fixed to the tie bar, also with a hooked end isd fitted. A light spring goes between the tie bar wire and the "L" wire. I've variously used Marklin reversing springs, sheering elastic or spring wire in a "Z" shape. Very little tension is required from the spring.

If you get it right the point blades will "snap" in both directions. If the blades snap in only one direction you got the pivot position wrong.

Regards, Greg.P.

The range of SEEP motors come with spring and contacts good for underboard fitting.

Chris

Try these guys: