Please read my earlier post asking for help about a Shinohara curved switch problem. ( I don't and never did like the term 'turnout' . I know how that started (Toggle switch v track switch) but hobby has moved away from toggle switches due to digital control taking over. Therefore I like using the name the big guys (realroaders I call them) use, 'switch'..It's a switch since childhood .. Besides, why then not call it a 'turnin' as trains do turn in to them half the time..?.
It would help if you posted in the same thread as your earlier question or perhaps repeated it. My memory isn't that good.
More Information Needed... " STILL NEED HELP !!" And so do we! More information needed... A switch, is a switch, is a switch, is a switch. See there... Yep, I like Mark, better already. A "Switch" it is and always has been. I can't help it if model railroaders strayed a bit. Let's see if we can get Bill and Pete back in on this one...grin! They were pretty helpful the last time. They thought you were talking to a guy named "Rails". Grin! And you were referring to all of us as Rails. Hummmm? So, what's the problem? I'l take a wild shot in the dark here. I have a Shinohara curved switch that has given me nothing but grief. I found I had to file the points down. Wire the frog so it is power routed and cut isolating gaps in and behind the frog on the diverging and emerging sides of the switch. Then I had to turn it upside down and sweat in some solder so the current would move through the movable points into the solid rail that leads to the frog. Does this help? Now to find the original post. Is this the one? DCC power usage guestion - TrainBoard.com I'd like to help but I don't know where to start.
HEY RICK !! I guess you and I are back to arguing again after our torrid love affair (you know, the 'hunn thing') !! Yep it is I ! Hey, thanks for the agreement (I think) about a switch is a switch is a switch. I am truley sorry for offending any of you rails by going against the grain (train) in nomenclature (<sp? [no not the RR !]). I just do not like 'turnout'. Never have, never will..It IS a S-W-I-T-C-H..track..And our argument is fortified due to toggle switches taking a now diminishing role in the hobby. So very much is digital nowdays it makes sense to now return the name of special trackwork, where it diverts to a different route as being simply a switch..To me it's deeply rooted in my psyche and a big part of the model railroading experience. I shall thus forge my way forward in search of rekindling a train of thought; one (s)witch has been missing from our collective vocabulary for way too long..switch track, not turnout. But again ,that's just me...
My father and grandfather worked for the NYC. They called them switches. My brother was a towerman for the PC, Conrail and Metro North. He called them switches. I worked for the NYCTA. We called them switches. See attachment
Funny just toooooo funny! Hi Mark, AND of course all tuned in here... If this is fighting we need to keep at it. Grin! I'm walking on egg shells here. We might have to cool it off...LOL! "SWITCHES" not turnouts...I couldn't agree more. Oh, and if you listen into the crews working the former ATSF B yard at the former passenger station in San Bernardino, CA. You will still hear the yard foreman, boss, super, dispatcher and other assorted names...calling out... "Switch 1 No, Switch 2 No, Switch 3 Yes". Which simply means you are going straight through the the first two "Switches" and the points have been aligned so you will be going into the diverging side of the 3rd "Switch". Heads up...pay attention...there will be a quiz later. The above worded illustration is specifically for those who don't seem to understand and are rather mystified by the whole thing. Most likely they are wondering how this breach in railroad lingo occurred. The answer to that is someone was reading an engineering technical book and encycolopedia (spelling intended) written by non-railroaders and picked up on the terminology. Wanting to be politically correct they horsed up model railroaders for almost 5 decades. As you say, "(s)witch has been missing from our collective vocabulary for way too long..switch track, not turnout..." It's all about American Railroad Lingo. Model an American Railroad then do use the correct and proper lingo. One other short story. I was listening into the yard crews, switching the San Bernardino, BNSF yard and heard, "" Employee: We have someone hear asking if we have a turnout crew. Dispatcher: We don't have a turnout crew...who's asking? Employee: Some rattle minded foamers. Dispatcher: We don't have time for this...ask them to leave the property. Followed by: Laughter that could be heard on my scanner. "" As the time progressed and I listened in I overheard the crews spotting cars by using the illustration I used above, "Switch 1 Yes", Later Switch 1 No, Switch 2 No, Switch 3 No, Switch 4 Yes" Also, what [FONT=verdana, arial][SIZE=-2][FONT=Trebuchet MS, Georgia, Verdana]retsignalmtr[/FONT] said. [/SIZE][/FONT]Just fuel for the fire. wink: So, did you ever get the answer to your question? By now... I would hope so.
No rick and rails I never got my answer.. I'll repeat it as I think it's not in this catagory originally. : after several years of no prob with a Shino curved switch ( OOH feels so goooood to write [and right] 'switch' !!). Now I must push down on the fulcrum-like rivet which the points swivel on in order to have loco move; and further along that track as switch (ah!) is of course, power routing. I know it's only a matter of say, crimping that rivet or adding jumper wires. I'm afraid if I tap on the head of the rivet it won't tighten up but instead will get more jiggly and looser and thus more intermittent. And ,I do not want to lift out the switch. The layout area here is tricky and it's all so smoothly aligned ..Any suggestions ??
I did not see your original post and can't find it. But after reading your last post I understand the question. I have recently worked on a couple of Shinohara double crossovers on my clubs layout to repair the plastic throw bars. Under the soldered in metal throw bar with the rivet there is a bronze wiper that rubs on the bottoms of the stockrails to transfer power from the stockrail to the point. (BTW i'm talking HO here). If it is not broken off it may be dirty and oxidized or needs a little bending up to touch the bottom of the stock rail. You can see the end of the wiper if you look down in the open point. After cleaning or bending or both, use a drop of a conductive lubricant like atlas's on both ends of the wiper and the center rivet. It might be better for you to remove the switch and do this repair off the layout. Using a drill, remove the rivet, clean the wiper, cut the throw bar to just retain the wiper in it's position. Using a piece of 3/32" X 3/32" styreen make a new throwbar. Tap the throwbar for a 1-72 machine screw and reassemble driving a 1-72 screw through the old rivet hole, wiper, old throwbar and into the new throwbar and tighten. Run a 1-72 nut onto the bottom of the screw and tighten. Reinstall switch. That's what I did to the switches in the picture.
Gosh Mark, When you ask a question you ask a question. Like you I wouldn't want to fool with the rivet. I like the WD40 idea suggested by [FONT=Trebuchet MS, Georgia, Verdana]retsignalmtr.[/FONT] There is a problem with it in that WD 40 does attract dust and requires some maintenance and cleaning on down the road. A small bolt and nut might work but it too will come apart in time. You could solder it but then it can't move. Jumper wires might work but then that doesn't look so pretty. If you have a wood base you could use a small wood screw but you would have to tighten it from time to time. Tricky at best. Me thinks you have me stumped here.
Hi Mark: I have Atlas CL switches, and they had the same problem, esp. after painting and ballasting. Here's how I eliminated the problem of dead switch points. I drilled a small (.032") hole in the base of the point rails, as close as I could to the rivet. Then a 1/16" hole down through the sub roadbed, and soldered a feeder wire to the point rail. After painting the wire, it's not very visible. It may not be prototypical, but I'd rather not have my locos stalling on the switches. DJ.
Yes Rick, I thought of that.I.E A thin screw right throught the hole in the rivet down into the plywood..I assume this is what you meant.. kills 2 birds with one stone as also fills the unrealistic hole !! 'retsignal' (above) I think you are refering to wrong end of the points. I was refering to the other end nearer frog where points swivel being joined by a thin metal strip with the fulcrum being a type of rivet with a hole through it ( a true rivet would be solid, though). This is what I bear down on when loco begins to move again..
