Hello,
Being my first post here, perhaps a little context - I'm totally new to the hobby. My 4-year old absolutely loves trains (what 4-yr old doesn't?) and we've ridden some real ones, been to the Illinois Railway Museum a few miles away from us, he loves going to the "train store" to see if the trains are running, I've taken him to a couple train shows (locally-run and iHobby) and finally, after what must seem forever to his little sense of time - Santa brought him his very own HO train set (though he still loves his Thomas/Brio stuff just as much.)
Being on a budget, I tried to get him the most bang for the buck. So that meant a Lifelike train set with additional track to make a kid-interesting layout on a 4x8 kid-height bench. A couple logging operating accessories and he's in heaven. There was no way I could make that layout with higher-end parts for him without spending a bunch more (unless perhaps I laid my own track? Just seemed too big a prospect starting out.) I am spending a tiny bit more money every so often to upgrade the trucks, add Kadee couplers, weight the cars, we'll model some more scenery, add buildings - basically there's room to grow. My immediate problem is the turnout throw.
Currently he runs around and manually throws the switches to "conduct" his train. That's great for a while so he can learn how the train moves based on which way the points throw. However, I plan to make a control box with track-side right-of-way indicator lights. I'm having a heck of a time getting the switches to throw reliably electronically. They buzz - caused by them vibrating back and forth REALLY fast and often end up in the same position. That won't do. When I eventually wire lights, the indicator will change but the track won't then they'll be out of sync and confuse the little guy.
I did a bunch of research and I'm pretty handy with amateur electronics and I found this site: www.awrr.com/awrrhome.html. I prototyped the capacitive discharge supply and I'm getting a good 35V across the discharge capacitors. STILL the turnouts buzz and don't throw reliably.
Being a cheaper brand, am I just facing the limitation of cheaper solenoids/turnouts? Is there anything I can do to get a decent "snap" and a reliable throw with these Lifelike turnouts? Without spending a lot of money? We're on a budget and investing in Tortoise motors to convert all my turnouts just isn't practical (of course, if I could MAKE my own tortoise-like motor, that would be a great thing to point me to!)
Any help/discussion is appreciated!
Being my first post here, perhaps a little context - I'm totally new to the hobby. My 4-year old absolutely loves trains (what 4-yr old doesn't?) and we've ridden some real ones, been to the Illinois Railway Museum a few miles away from us, he loves going to the "train store" to see if the trains are running, I've taken him to a couple train shows (locally-run and iHobby) and finally, after what must seem forever to his little sense of time - Santa brought him his very own HO train set (though he still loves his Thomas/Brio stuff just as much.)
Being on a budget, I tried to get him the most bang for the buck. So that meant a Lifelike train set with additional track to make a kid-interesting layout on a 4x8 kid-height bench. A couple logging operating accessories and he's in heaven. There was no way I could make that layout with higher-end parts for him without spending a bunch more (unless perhaps I laid my own track? Just seemed too big a prospect starting out.) I am spending a tiny bit more money every so often to upgrade the trucks, add Kadee couplers, weight the cars, we'll model some more scenery, add buildings - basically there's room to grow. My immediate problem is the turnout throw.
Currently he runs around and manually throws the switches to "conduct" his train. That's great for a while so he can learn how the train moves based on which way the points throw. However, I plan to make a control box with track-side right-of-way indicator lights. I'm having a heck of a time getting the switches to throw reliably electronically. They buzz - caused by them vibrating back and forth REALLY fast and often end up in the same position. That won't do. When I eventually wire lights, the indicator will change but the track won't then they'll be out of sync and confuse the little guy.
I did a bunch of research and I'm pretty handy with amateur electronics and I found this site: www.awrr.com/awrrhome.html. I prototyped the capacitive discharge supply and I'm getting a good 35V across the discharge capacitors. STILL the turnouts buzz and don't throw reliably.
Being a cheaper brand, am I just facing the limitation of cheaper solenoids/turnouts? Is there anything I can do to get a decent "snap" and a reliable throw with these Lifelike turnouts? Without spending a lot of money? We're on a budget and investing in Tortoise motors to convert all my turnouts just isn't practical (of course, if I could MAKE my own tortoise-like motor, that would be a great thing to point me to!)
Any help/discussion is appreciated!
