Hi, during last train show in November one of my switch drive failed. Because of ballasting there is no access to underside of switch, so only an external drive could be a solution. I decided to try a MTB 1 drive, but wanted to retain original switch control. I removed all of components inside of control box except the blue switch. This blue switch controls MTB drive now. Then I drilled Ø0,6mm through hand control of Rokuhan switch and used Ø0,5mm spring wire (not sure about correct wording..) for connection to MTB drive. Inside of red cap of MTB drive I glued small strips of 0,3mm Styrene to clamp the spring wire. Rokuhan switch needs 3,5mm distance between end positions, so I choosed the 6mm-option of MTB drive (There are 3mm and 9mm too). Combined with spring wire the switch points are pressed against stock rails without damage. Perhaps it helps for someone faced with a similar problem.
Good to see the guts. A simple Capacitive Discharge design. The turnout modification also applies to the Micro-Trains turnouts. A bit of an overkill on the motor drive though. A $3 servo will easily throw the turnout but, will require a $20-$40 (single-quad) controller (PC board) to drive them.
They're quite nice. The MP1 is now developed into MP5. See http://www.mtb-model.com/pages/mp5.php?lang=en Matt
Hi guys, I got two of these MTB-model drives and did a little test with bringing the switch motor undertable, with a Marklin z scale switch. Pictures tell it best, take al look at my photo album, it starts with a little video. https://myalbum.com/album/4Tl5aLHPa2Cq
