So after a bit of time away from the hobby and seeing the leaps and bounds in technology. It sure is different from 10 years back. One item that I have always thought would be excellent addition would be the creation of A Sliding Switch Cover that would look similar to a railside piece of equipment that could be manually turned to operate the switch, rather than using the slider. Even if such a creation was a cover of some type to hide the slide. Looked all around and still, nothing exists. Has anyone seen such a creation? If not I'm going to talk with a buddy once this Covid 19 thing is behind us and ask if he could come up with something. Then again there might just not be enough room to do something like that.
Honestly I never thought much about it, as they are nearly invisible to me when on a layout. A switch machine from the railroad would be closer to the ends of the stock rails than where the slider is so that may look out of place.
That's a good idea Owen. Per Massey, some time ago I even thought a nice looking inoperative North American style switchstand placed by the points would be a nice accessory to dress things up. When I get my railroad built someday (life threw me a curve last year at this time), I might even try to craft my own using Kato's ballast and a commercial switchstand.
To be honest it does not bother me. I just thought it would add some realism' Perhaps at some point, we can put our collective brainpower to the task.
Hmmm?? Interesting point. You'll forgive me or not if I don't use the "T" word but use Switch. I never heard my family of rails refer to Switch in the "T" word fascination most toy train enthusiast do. Look at a switch in the real world of the 1:1 scale. The mechanism that throws the switch is attached to a sliding sleeper or tie. Attached to the point rails of the switch or points clear enough. They used to attach a switch stand with either a lantern or dot to show the crews the direction the switch is set. Thrown to, is better said. Atlas, Peco all use a slider. Kato has everything under the roadbed. You don't want to open that shell. You can ask me how I know, I did. Never did get it back together. I like the idea but I'm not sure you'd want to mess to much with the Kato switch mechanism. However having been warned...why not!! Now I need to duck and run for cover.
@BarstowRick - No Ducking required. I read an article today about some guys who put a Digitrax DS51K1 in the #4 and #6 switches. They also had pictures from Kato on how they did it. He had the whole back off and was rewiring the switches internally to work with a DS51K1. Looking at the drawings and pictures, I began to formulate if a rod might be attached to the slider underneath. More thought required. Here is a link to the discussion on the Japanese Nscale Forum - Installing a DS51K1 Kato #4-and #6 Switch. Admins/Mods if this link is inappropriate my apologies, please feel free to delete.
Just my opinion.... For manual switch operations...I would like a more modern switch stand... https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/uploads/monthly_06_2011/post-6688-0-48100500-1307021331.jpg Mount the stand to the layout just outside the Unitrack ballast...nearer to the points. A sort piece of fine piano wire leading to the Unitrack black slide switch (with a hole drilled thru it) that moved said switch when the yellow handle on the switch stand was moved could be a workable solution. HHhhhmmmm.
@mtntrainman - Now that is something that may be workable - Thanks for bringing your thinking cap. Hell of an opinion
One overlooks the fact that Unitrack turnouts or switches follow Japanese prototype where the vast majority of them are activated from a control center thus the hidden switch machine. Thus the fact that Kato included a semi hidden way to manually activate them is nice. There are industrial tracks in Japan that are manually thrown and have a switch stand. I would suggest the answer lies with the Caboose Industries product design. https://www.cabooseind.com/product-info
@John Moore - Your ears must have been burning. I was further researching this not 20 minutes ago and did see Caboose Industries. Made a mental note to look up Caboose tonight or at lunch today. Thank you for the link, hopefully, we can craft something! Have a great day
I have used their product when I used Peco turnouts on a previous layout and I do agree that their N scale versions are over sized for N scale. I also did some research into Japanese products and came up with nothing yet.
The Caboose throws wont work with Unitrack... https://www.cabooseind.com/selection-guide The Caboose throws have to be oversize for N scale. If they where to scale you would not be able to flip them with your finger to throw them. I imagine some kind of plastic cover can be made to snap over the black slide switch and hole if a person is using electrical switching.
I would think that a simple non operating switch stand would do for turnouts that are not remote controlled. But then I would have to place them so my big five thumbs would not break them off when using the slide switch. In other words only my industries would have switch stands and the mainline would stay auto.
One fellow 3D printed some ties that fitted over the slide to hide it. Not sure how well that worked. I've done what you are talking about if one is using a slide switch to throw another type turnout via the throwbar.... http://1fatgmc.com/RailRoad/3D-Printer/page-1.html ... the the objects I've created won't fit on the Kato slide, Sumner
After also being away from the hobby for a while, but continuing to read plenty of historical reference material I had a similar though to mtntrainman, only instead of a manual throw hoop, I would just have a stand that turns with red and green flags. I saw an ad for Touch Toggles that now have a board capable of throwing coil snap switches. So using those on a panel instead of unsteady fat fingers to try throwing the switch, rely on the built in Kato machine to do it, and turn the stand. This is all in very early brainstorming phase mind you.
To follow up on Sumner's ideas, here is a link to one posted in the #D printing forum that seems like it could be adapted to cover the slider in the Kato switch and give it that remote CTC controlled look. https://www.trainboard.com/highball/index.php?threads/n-scale-decorative-switch-motors.135813/
