[FUNGUS]

Hi
I am about to begin building my baseboards now the nicer weather has arrived ( as I dont have any room inside or wish to cover the carpets with sawdust thus upsetting mrs WB)
My plan is to have a through station with a junction to a goods yard, very loosley based on Wolverton circa 1950's to 80's.
I am the "proud" owner of a select controller that is redundant now due to upgrading to to the elite. I wish to know if it is possible to use the select to controll accessories point motors etc, whilst using the elite to run locos (im easily confused so using the select to controll the points should make things simpler for me, I hope)
Also as Im fiarly new to this so could anyone point me in the direction of decent point motors, Im going to be using peco stream line code 75 points.
Thanks
Steve

 

[db ice 3]

hi steve,

im not familiar with the hornby system - altho theres others on here - but your principle/idea is great and same as im doing with my system. i have the fleischman twin centre console which together with 2 x profi boss hand controllers plugged into it will be used to drive trains and i have the twin control (looks identical to the twin centre) next to the twin centre which will be used solely for operating points and signals. just like you said, its easier to have separate cointrollers doing different jobs!. the train driver on a real railway after all doesnt have to change points and signals and also drive the train!

great idea, im sure ull be able to do that with your select and elite as iv read that the select can be used as an additional controller/slave to your master elite.

 

[shumifan50]

You can use the Select to control the points (plugged into an accesory controller). But DO NOT connect both to the track. Connect wires straight from the Select track output to the accesory controller track connection.
Be wary of one thing though: On several forums people have commented that the Select resets when trying to throw points through a Hornby points controller. They have put it down to too little power. In this configuration it might be less of a problem as there will be no trains running off the Select at the same time.

Consider using a CDU for your points. I am not using my LS150 any more; I have opted for hardwired switches on a switch box driving a CDU per point.. It works much easier for me.

 

[FUNGUS]

Cheers for that guys
Ive been out and bought a points decoder and point motor so I can have a play. Only Im following the supplied instructions re wiring and prograsmming to the letter but the decoder is not accepting the commands. Have I got this right
Horby point motor. red=live, black= nuetral green= common?
Steve

 

[FUNGUS]

Thanks for all your help. Ive got it sorted, turns out red is + green is - and black is common. Also the decoder wouldnt accept the default address 60 as instructed. I programmed it to 65 and it all works now.
Steve

 

[Chinahand]

Hi WB.

Not into Horby controllers so can't really comment on that aspect of your question but point motors I do know about.

You say you are using Peco Code 75 trackwork but don't mention which points you are using i.e. Insulfrog or Electrofrog. Hopefully you are going for Electrofrog points as these will give you much better slow running through them than the Insulfrog type which can cause some locos to stall, particularly the smaller ones. This is because the frog is made of plastic and shorter locos may not have enough pick-ups to be able to span across the frog and collect power from the rails.

Assuming you are using Electrofrog you will need some way of changing the polarity of the frog, depending on which way the point is set. Peco do an 'add-on' for their point motors but when you add this to the cost of the point motor it starts to get a little expensive. A more elegant (and cheaper) solution is the Seep PM1 point motor which has in-built frog polarity switching and costs no more than just the Peco motor on its own.

Another advantage of the Seep is that it fixes to the underside of the baseboard, not to the point itself, so you only need a small slot in the baseboard for the pin to move in rather than having to carve out a huge chunk of board to allow the Peco motor to be fixed directly to the point.

You will, no doubt, hear comments, generally from ill-informed model shop sales persons, to the effect that Electrofrog points are difficult to wire up. Rubbish !!!! With Code 100 points you need to make a couple of very fine cuts in the rails to electrically isolate the frog but on Code 75 even this is unnecessary. You just have to cut 2 link wires underneath to isolate the frog and solder a couple of new link wires on the underside of the point so that you do not rely solely on the point blades themselves making an electrical contact with the outside (stock) rails. It takes less than 5 minutes to do the necessay mods. Have a look at this link which specifically describes how to modify a Code 75 point.
http://www.mrol.com.au/livefrogwiring.aspx

Hope this helps.

 

[FUNGUS]

Thanks Expat, Iwill indeed be using peco code 75 electrofrog points and the comment you made about isolating them is welcome and recieved with great thanks!
Steve

 

[Chinahand]

Hi WB. Glad to be of help.

One type of point motor I inadvertantly omitted to mention are the 'slow action' type such as Tortoise. These give a more prototypical slow action instead of the 'clunk' of the solenoid types but are a little on the expensive side. It all depends on how many sets of points you have as to whether you think the extra cost is bearable and justified.

 

[FUNGUS]

Hi Expat.
Im still at the experimental stage and havnt committed to any particlar type or make of point as yet. I spent this afternoon building a "practise" baseboard on which to experiment with all things railway modelling andfound that the hornby point motors do not always throw, (whether mounted on the point or not.) so Im now going to go buy a tortoise and see how I get on with it.
Again, thanks for all your advice, it is much appreciated.
Steve

 

[RFS]

Peco points can also be fitted below the baseboard using the PL9 mounting plate, that cost about £1.50 for a pack of 6. This eliminates the need to gouge a great hole in the baseboard. Also, if you have a problem with the motor, it's easy to just unscrew and remove to the workbench - don't know how you would do it otherwise. I've done all mine that way with the wires connected to a cheap plastic terminal block (Wilkinsons Hardware stores sell 12-way ones for 29p).

Another slow-action motor is the Fulgurex one which costs about £10. More expensive than the PL10 but it does have two built-in SPDT switches so it compares favourably with PL10 + mounting base + polarity switch. And it won't ever need a DCC Concepts Masterswitch because it won't get sticky.

And a further point on the code 75 points is that the modification described earlier is only needed for the simple turnouts: single and double slips, and the asymmetric 3-way do not require any change at all. You just need two motors each of your choice both with a polarity switch.

Finally, avoid the Insulfrog short and long crossings and use the Electrofrog ones: the Insulfrog ones are not DCC-friendly at all and will cause you endless problems with momentary short circuits, as I know to my cost!

 

[FUNGUS]

Thanks for the advice RFS.
All my points are (and will be) peco streamline code 75 electrofrog for the following reasons,
In my opinion they are much better looking than Hornby,
They are relativaly easy to get hold of locally (I am the most impatiant man in the world and hate progress being postponed because the postman is dragging his heels etc)
And lastl I have read time and time again that elctrofrog is better than dead frog. Hornby use a system of placing small "staples" in the points to convert them and I had no end of problems with my beginner dcc set when the little "staple" decided to go missing!

Again thanks for all the advice
Steve