Re: Views of Points (yes it's round the right way)

[Ressaldar]

Views of Points (yes it's round the right way)

Hi all,

whilst preparing the points for the new layout  - removing the wires on the back of the frog and bonding the rails, I started thinking about point motors - Peco or Tortoise? I have experience of both but am undecided as to which is the better in the long run. The question of cost ?6.60 for Peco including base plate and polarity switch against ?14 for the Tortoise, ready to go, is not a major issue as I only need seven. I intend to operate them separately from the DCC system.

Any comments would be welcome.

regards

Mike

 

[iploffy]

Views of Points (yes it's round the right way)

Now this is an area where I have alot of experience and my vote is Tortoise every time. when you way up the  pros and cons and measure them against each other .
Peco
For                                                                                             
Cost/cheap                                                                             
Peco points designed for them therefore easy to fit                 
Easy to wire up                                                                         
Size 
                                                                                               
Against
Solonoid thump leading to mechanical fatigue
Unprototypical action
Acssessory switch notoriously unreliable
lack of Guarantee
not self locking any wear on the point and it could remain open
                                                                                                   

Reverse everything for the tortoise all of the fors become against except the easy to wire up and add a more pluses including
variable throw and more torque so if you want to operate 2 sets of co acting points at the same time you can also if you wire the point in the correct way you can have tell tales on your control panel informing you of the direction the point is set in.

Ian

 

[Phill Dyson]

Views of Points (yes it's round the right way)

I have Seep point motors in my garage operating the terminus points  ...........I'm a bit of a Luddite tough & still like 'Wire in Tube'

Cheers Phill

 

[Dikitriki]

Views of Points (yes it's round the right way)

Hi all,

whilst preparing the points for the new layout  - removing the wires on the back of the frog and bonding the rails, I started thinking about point motors - Peco or Tortoise? I have experience of both but am undecided as to which is the better in the long run. The question of cost ?6.60 for Peco including base plate and polarity switch against ?14 for the Tortoise, ready to go, is not a major issue as I only need seven. I intend to operate them separately from the DCC system.

Any comments would be welcome.

regards

Mike

Hi Mike

Tortoises - no contest.

They are easy to install and adjust. They are gentle yet have plenty of torque. The second set of contacts is a real boon. We have used them exclusively on Heyside, and the second set of contacts is wired back to lights on the control panel so we can see which way the points are set. Very important as we can't actually see the points over the buildings.

Your post indicates that you are using Peco points. Since you have relatively few points to build, can I encourage you to build your own, before you lay anything? They will look so much better, and not have the uniform geometry that Peco has. Besides which, Peco points take up a huge amount of space, and make designing trackwork a headache.

Just a thought.

Regards

Richard

 

[Ressaldar]

Views of Points (yes it's round the right way)

Hi Ian, Phill & Richard,

thanks for the quick responses, much appreciated.

I think that I had already decided that I would be using Tortoise and it is encouraging that both non-Ludites are using them. As for building my own points, perhaps next time. I had considered C&L but as I am also building stock and going over to DCC, it would I feel be a rather daunting task. Basically I have a blank canvas and effectively, no paint to put on it. Had I gone the kit-built pointwork route as well, I don't think that I would have finished one, let alone the course. I wanted to get something down to get started, so chose the Peco option.

Once I have built up a sufficient and varied amount of stock and run the layout for a while, I may then look at another layout with C&L trackwork, but that is something to think about for the future.

I'll be posting onto the layout thread soon , as I have decorating to do next and a visit South is also planned, therefore not much in the way of modelling for the next couple of weeks/ Thanks once again for the encouraging replies.

regards

Mike

 

[Jordan]

Views of Points (yes it's round the right way)

I have Seep point motors in my garage operating the terminus points  ...........I'm a bit of a Luddite tough & still like 'Wire in Tube'

I'm even worse... in 32 years in the hobby I have never used any point motors... :-[ :-\ :-X

 

[Phill Dyson]

Views of Points (yes it's round the right way)

I'm even worse... in 32 years in the hobby I have never used any point motors... :-[ :-\ :-X

It was Ross who persuaded me to use these new-fangled point motors  ;D, I'm not so sure it was a good idea  :-\.............we shall see 

 

[iploffy]

Views of Points (yes it's round the right way)

Phill it's called a MOTOR and it works via ELECTRICKERY I understand the latest discovery in the north we in the midlands have had it for years don't you know ;D ;D

Ian