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Home   Forums   Events Calendar   Sponsors   Support the RRLine   Guestbook   FAQ     Register Active Topics | Active Polls | Resources | Members | Online Users | Live Chat | Avatar Legend | Search | Statistics Photo Album | File Lister | File Library [ Active Members: 4 | Anonymous Members: 0 | Guests: 231 ]  [ Total: 235 ]  [ Newest Member: bandit ]  All Forums  Model Railroad Forums  Model Railroad Construction  Harmony Junction Switching Layout Previous Page | Next Page  New Topic |    New Poll |   Reply to Topic |  Author Topic Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 of 16 Tyson Rayles Moderator Premium Member Posted - 09/29/2020 :  08:47:22 AM     I have to say I fail to understand why so many model railroaders put switch machines on small switching layouts. Besides the extra work and expense they are totally unrealistic. In real life there wasn't a yardmaster sitting in a tower somewhere pushing a little magic button to throw the switch. Also on a small layout you need MORE to do not less. Reaching in and throwing a switch is wayyyyyy more realistic then going the magic button route and having to take the time to do that makes a op session take a little longer and makes the layout seem a little bigger. Just my 2 cents worth everybody else's mileage may vary of course. Country: USA | Posts: 13438 George D Moderator Premium Member Posted - 09/29/2020 :  11:01:16 AM     quote: Originally posted by Frank Palmer Good ole' Murphy. He'll bite you in the roadbed every time. I have more than my fair share of scars from where Murphy bit me. Mike, The problem with ground throws are they look out of place in the scenery. My brakeman will have to walk to the end of the earth and reach down and throw the toggle. The Tortoise also routes power to the frog. George Fly Army Country: USA | Posts: 16799 jbvb Fireman Premium Member Posted - 09/29/2020 :  11:48:12 AM       I agree with Mike (but it's your RR, George). I use slide switches to lock the points and power the frog of all the turnouts on my layout that would have been hand-throw on the prototype. Near Pingdingshan, Henan, China, I visited a coal mine where empties were top-and-tailed (road loco in front, pusher behind) up to a 5 track yard. Entering a cabin at the throat of the yard, I was quite surprised to see a uniformed official working a modest interlocking panel to get the locos onto a cut of loaded cars for the return trip. In Britain, Europe and elsewhere where their general scheme of operations is used, turnouts off the main line are either powered or interlocked with signals. But I've never seen another industrial yard done that way. Country: USA | Posts: 6809 tloc Fireman Premium Member Posted - 09/29/2020 :  3:06:10 PM     George you are at the part of the build process I really dislike. Wiring turnouts. The reasons you are using them or not are your decisions and I would never debate that about someone else’s layout. I had 17 turnouts on my switch around the walls layout, none powered. I finger flicker my turnouts. Carry on TomO Country: USA | Posts: 4320 George D Moderator Premium Member Posted - 09/29/2020 :  4:34:11 PM     Tom, we have Peco switches in the classification yards at the club and I like the finger flick feature. Since mine are hand laid, the mechanism is beyond my abilities. Wiring the turnouts wasn't that bad, but doing it twice wasn't a whole lot of fun. George Fly Army Country: USA | Posts: 16799 BurleyJim Fireman Premium Member Posted - 09/29/2020 :  6:57:04 PM     When they make scale model figures to throw those switches, then what? Rule #1 George! Jim Take the red pill Country: USA | Posts: 6182 Carl B Fireman Premium Member Posted - 09/29/2020 :  7:25:44 PM     You've got more clamps than me George.... Country: USA | Posts: 4154 George D Moderator Premium Member Posted - 09/29/2020 :  7:55:00 PM     Jim, when they have figures to throw the switches, I'm going back to the drawing board. Carl, you can never have too many clamps. George Fly Army Country: USA | Posts: 16799 robert goslin Fireman Premium Member Posted - 09/30/2020 :  05:28:06 AM     Nice to see your progress George. they track looks excellent. Switch machines or giant hand of God. Hmmm. In the end it's what you like and what works for you. I too will be looking forward to the scenery. Regards Rob My current build. http://railroad-line.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=53468 Country: Australia | Posts: 2817 katanauser Section Hand Posted - 09/30/2020 :  08:04:26 AM     George, I'm filled with admiration. Your work is also an inspiration. I will watch your efforts for examples while I make my own decisions. Michael One useless man is a shame, two is a law firm, three or more is a congress. John Adams, 1803 Country: USA | Posts: 66 George D Moderator Premium Member Posted - 09/30/2020 :  08:20:22 AM     Thanks, Rob. We make a lot of compromises in this hobby, but we don't compromise on having fun. Thanks for following along Michael. George Fly Army Country: USA | Posts: 16799 quarryman Fireman Posted - 10/03/2020 :  09:08:20 AM       George- I am installing Turtoise switch machines with stationary decoders on all the turnouts on my layout as well. A big difference being that I am building my turnouts in Fast Track jigs. That allows me to install the Tortoise before installing the turnout, since it is easier to precisely position the turnout than it is to precisely position the switch machine. As I was under the layout working over my head to install switch machines earlier this week, I could not get the image of your layout turned on its side out of my head. Country: USA | Posts: 1207 George D Moderator Premium Member Posted - 10/03/2020 :  10:22:22 AM     Thanks for checking in, Mark. I don't envy your overhead Tortoise installation. George Fly Army Country: USA | Posts: 16799 George D Moderator Premium Member Posted - 10/30/2020 :  9:52:36 PM     I don't have a lot to report, but I thought I better check in. I've been working on my layout off and on. Most of my effort has been spending on the backdrop and I have nothing to show for it. I tried making a backdrop that was curved at each back corner using Sintra plastic. I used contact cement to glue 1”x3” framing to the back of the Sintra and the plastic now has wavy lines where the supporting boards are. It just doesn't look right, so I guess I'll go with the traditional three pieces of Masonite and forget the idea of curved corners. I've completed the framing to hold it all together. Today was the first time I set up the layout with both staging areas on each side. The staging pieces are hollow core doors that I shortened to 6', the same as the layout length. I'm going to be using cassettes to feed trains on and off the layout. If you look closely, the legs under staging are sitting on 2x4's. I made an error in my calculations and I'm going to have to add a 4” extensions to the legs. This is a closer shot of the layout. And a closer shot of staging. This shows a cassette on the staging platform. I've done a mock up of the mechanism that will align the cassette with the track on the layout. My next task is to finalize this and make some cassettes. That curved block of wood on the corner of the layout will be removed since I'm abandoning the curved backdrop plan. The staging piece can be adjusted vertically so the tracks line up horizontally. It was that design that caused me to mess up the length of the legs under staging. George Fly Army Country: USA | Posts: 16799 jbvb Fireman Premium Member Posted - 10/30/2020 :  10:10:21 PM       Too bad the staging legs need more work. But you might want to use adjusting screws to make up part of the difference. It's a rare place where modules set up whose floor is both flat and level. 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