Switch questions for remote turnouts

[daxdog]

Personally, I do not think the switches that come with EZ track remote turnouts are the best looking.  I would like to use toggle switches (toggle may not be the right term, but I mean the little metal switch that has the pin sticking out). Eventually I would like to get a drawing of my layout and place the switches in the appropriate places.

What type switches do I need?  I know they need to be momentary, but do they need to be SPDT or DPDT or something else entirely?  Do the wye turnouts require different switches?  I ask because Bachmann uses a different switch for them.  Do you have any recommendation on particular switches to use for this application?

thanks in advance for your help

[jward]

whatever type of control you use with your remote switches, you will need them to have momentary contacts. using a regular electrical switch on a twin coil motor will burn it out. types of momentary switches include pushbuttons, the switch control boxes that are a combination slide switch and pushbutton, or toggle switches with momentary action. the toggle switches can be a bit hard to find.

[Doneldon]

dd-

If I read your post correctly, you are asking about the electrical switch which controls the motor which changes the position of your turnouts. That said, you can certainly use toggle switches. And they'll look and work just fine. But be absolutely certain that you get switches which will not continue to send current to your turnout motors or you will burn the motors out rather quickly (seconds).

You'll have no trouble finding center off toggle switches but they will only control your turnouts without damage if you religiously return the toggle to the center position immediately every time. I'll bet that sounds like a high standard, and it is. But it's the only way to avoid replacing your turnout motors (or switch machines) over and over again. So... look for toggle switches which are sprung to return to the off position. Then you just give the toggle a bump and it will do the rest for you. What you are looking for is a single-pole, double-throw, center-off, momentary or sprung switch. You can find them in the Walthers catalog or, probably, at Radio Shack or any good electronics supplier. An alternative switch would be a passing contact switch. That one sends current only briefly while you move the toggle from one position to the other. It is not necessary (or desirable or possible) to return the toggle to the center position. These are also in the Walthers catalog and, I think, are the mechanism in the Kato switch controls which look just a little like miniatures of the old fashioned switch levers in yard towers.

An alternative is using slow-motion switch machines such as the Tortoise. Such a machine does not turn completely off; rather, it continues to draw a low current, just enough to keep the turnout points tight in the position you've chosen. This type of machine is quite a bit more expensive than the more common electromagnetic switch machines, and much more complicated to install.
                                                                                                                                   -- D