Post by cc on Oct 1, 2018 4:45:05 GMT -5
I read an article in an OLD Model Railroader by Irv Schultz (St Clair Northern RR) where he would hide all his switch machines, although the pictures of his layout never showed the area of the switches that would have the machine mounted. I am mounting mine below the level of the cork roadbed making it easier to cover up with scenery. I'll send some pictures later.
cc
Our railroad has four track arrangements that each have a pair of Atlas switch machines ganged with an Atlas relay, which all work perfectly.
One is a passing siding using a relay to control power routing and signal lights, and two are crossovers using Custom Line turnouts requiring relays to power the frogs. The problem is when introducing a second Atlas relay into the circuit, you now have two switch machines and two relays battling for the limited power available from a single momentary contact button, so one or both of the Relays cannot function.
(see the Basement Central thread in "Your Railroad" for more details)
Exhaustive troubleshooting has netted the following facts:
-The switch machines ALWAYS win because the relays pull more current
- Changing push buttons or individual relays make NO difference.
- Proximity of the relays to the pushbutton makes NO difference
- Minimum 1 amp power supply is mandatory, preferably 2 amp.
Dave's suggestion would add a control element that would not be parasitic, and in fact I was able to overcome one hurdle by installing a set of contacts on top of an Atlas switch machine only yesterday which now control signal lights, while the associated relay takes care of frog power.
Note: Current Atlas Custom Line switches require the new style machines, as the old style WILL NOT fit.
