My First Posting - Points Wiring

[bazza2471]

Hi there,

This is my first post, I have recently got into model railway-ing and have the baseboards and rail track all laid out, I want to have automatic points that you can operate at the flick of a switch, but all I have at the moment are two R965 controllers the ones you get with Hornby Trainsets, All points are Hornby, and there are 13 of them. The problem is I have purchased some R8243 Top Mountable point Motors but some of them dont seem to have enough power running to them. Is it worth investing in a couple more R965 controllers to run the operation of the points solely from these or is there a easier way to run all 13 points from one controller. If you need anymore information that would help you to help me I will be grateful to offer it.

Many Thanks
:):)

[TWICK9]

Welcome to the forum Barry, It's been 53 years since I had Hornby- Doublo, so I presume they work on 16v AC the same as Peco. I think it's best to get a dedicated 16v AC transformer just for point operation, also if you are intending to switch a few points at the same time it might be worth getting a CDU " Capacitor Discharge Unit " wired in, They are only a few pound easy to wire and will give that extra power to throw sticky motors and will also help protect the point motors from burnouts. Hope this helps.

[RAFHAAA96]

I can recommend Gaugemaster's CDU - it willl bang off 6 solenoids at once - ideal for route setting using a diode matrix.
Make sure you align those surface mounted points motors just right else they can stick. Also check the turnout tie bar pin isn,t catching on the motor housing - may need a slight file down to fix it.
Rob

[patlucas]

Hi there

Also my first post. WEhat are the different options for controlling electric points? All I've seen are lever-like control units and they are far too big. Is there anything that is oush-button based?

Regards

Patrick

[hairyhandedfool]

Welcome to the forum.

YOu could have either a 'push to make' button switch and a toggle switch, or two 'push to make' button switches for each point (or pair of points).

The simplest of these would be the two 'push to make' switches which are each simply provided for each way the point is to move. The other method requires the toggle switch to set which way the point motor will move and the push button allows the motor to move.

With the toggle switch it is easy to see which way the point should be facing, just incase you forget.

I'll try and draw something up for when I'm next on here and post it then, unless someone else beats me to it.

EDIT:

Here we are then:

Two 'push to make' switches:
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll50/hairyhandedfool/help04.jpg

One 'push to make' and a toggle switch:
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll50/hairyhandedfool/help03.jpg

[railwaybuddy]

Welcome to the forum.

YOu could have either a 'push to make' button switch and a toggle switch, or two 'push to make' button switches for each point (or pair of points).

The simplest of these would be the two 'push to make' switches which are each simply provided for each way the point is to move. The other method requires the toggle switch to set which way the point motor will move and the push button allows the motor to move.

With the toggle switch it is easy to see which way the point should be facing, just incase you forget.

I'll try and draw something up for when I'm next on here and post it then, unless someone else beats me to it.

EDIT:

Here we are then:

Two 'push to make' switches:
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll50/hairyhandedfool/help04.jpg

One 'push to make' and a toggle switch:
http://i285.photobucket.com/albums/ll50/hairyhandedfool/help03.jpg

on the second one, that push to make is not required and the toggle switch can be a spring back to centre (on)off(on)

railwaybuddy
(daniel budd)

[GraemeK]

railwaybuddy, you could use locking switches for all of your points and a single push button connected to all of them to allow route setting.

[Flashbang]

While sprung to centre off toggle switches are one method and used mostly by modellers on a mimic panel.
The other method using toggle switches for operating solenoid point motors is to use standard locking On/On toggle switches and then to prevent coil burn out, a momentary push to make switch is added into the motors operating circuit.
This then allows the lever of the toggle switch to act as visual aid to show which way the point is set.

Note the PB 'make on press' switch used with the locking On/On stole switches is one per point switch. You cannot use one master "Fire" PB, as all other motors would receive the power and then there wouldn't be sufficient power to operate the one motor needing to be moved

So both of Hairhandedfool drawings are correct!

There are of course other methods - Stud & Probe is popular and a very cheap system to use. 2 x PB of the momentary - press to make type. Peco point levers - PL26 or the dreaded Hornby R044 black lever. Though I feel the latter is the worse of all! Some other train manufactures also produce their own point operating levers too.

[GraemeK]

I have 1 Hornby black point lever, but I don't like it and I don't even have a CDU yet!