Trainline 45 Curved Point

dunnyrail

dunnyrail

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In my last Post on my New Line Thread I mentioned that there had been two purchases at Glendale. Well the other one was this:-

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A Trainline 45 Curved Right Hand Point. I had for some time been thinking about converting another one of the Dead End Roads in my Stiege Low Level Fiddle Yard to a Through Road. Operators had been having problems with Running Round in spite of the assisting Pilot. The Track Situation was R2 Curve, LGB Short Straight then another R2 Curve followed by Straight. It is the Track at the end of the Road 2nd from Left. Sorry test fit slightly obscures Rail Situation.

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One very interesting feature of the New Trainline Curved Points is the Reed Switch together with a Small Rare Earth Magnet for Frog Polarity Juice Changing. Very effective and ingenious. Not sure how well it would last outside, but inside it will be perfect. Just remember it is there though when pining down the Rail. I do not pin the Track Down in the Fiddle Yard relying on the Small Blocks of Timber between the Rails that you can see in the Pics to keep things in place here.

I wonder if the rest of the Trainline Range of Points now have this Modification?

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I had decided that an R1 would and could not be used in this location in spite of this being the obvious solution. I had a RH Train Line R2 in stock, but this did not fit in the location. So I cut up a piece of Wallpaper Backing Paper, traced out the relevant Track Layout and asked those nice people at Glendale when I got there if I could open up a Trainline Curved Right Hand Point to see if it would fit. It did just so a purchase was made. A quick removal of the existing Track and cut up of varying Short Pieces of Rail including butchering the R2 Curve into 4 yes 4 bits and it all fitted nicely. For convenience I used the Air Line to the Point where the Coaches are Standing. No need to worry about that being Shunted at the same time as it is just a Storage Road. Never gets used in the TT.

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One slight niggle with both Trainline and LGB is an irritating Short on the Rails just before the Frog. I have used some Insulating Tape to resolve this as can be seen on the Last 2 Pics. The second Pics is the LGB Point that has had this fix for some time. As you can see the Tape has lifted a bit but still functions perfectly.

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JonD
 
Odd that shorting problem, only time I have had it was on a 3 way point.

But you have to admit, curved points whatever the make have a certain appeal.

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I too have never experienced a skate shorting problem with LGB frogs - tends to imply the skate on the loco is bent out of position somehow? As has been mentioned, we know shorts do occur with Peco points. Is it the same loco which shorts on the approach to the frog on the TL point?
 
Nice work JD.

I assume the air line point mechanism fits easily enough to this point?

My experience of the TL R2 point is that it has a longer throw than an LGB point and you have to use the TL point motor rather than an LGB one....
 
Gizzy said:
Nice work JD.

I assume the air line point mechanism fits easily enough to this point?

My experience of the TL R2 point is that it has a longer throw than an LGB point and you have to use the TL point motor rather than an LGB one....
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Good point Gizzy, the 2nd Hole for the Mounting Plate of the Airline Cylinder is where they have fitted the Reed Switch. So I just hacked off one of the Mounting Lugs and used to remaining one to secure it. It is a Base that came from Andrews Railway. Came from I think Easy Air. They are a great fit to LGB Points that have had a Hand Switch. Ones with an Electric Motor have to have an additional hole drilled in the next Sleeper. Pretty much the same with Trainline too. The Air Actuators tend to have a longer throw than Electric Motors so no problems encountered.

Re the Shorting, it is just that one and only that LGB R3 on my line, many Locomotives appear to fall foul of it hence the Tape. All of my Peco have been converted to Live Frogs so no problem with these. But most Train Line Points have their moments with Skates. Both LGB and Trainline ones. Andy had LGB R5's and these could be a real pain with Skates, he did a Mod with most of his Skates and many of mine just bending them up a tadge. The Red Tape fix would not have suited Andy. In fact in Sceniced Area's it would not suit me either.
JonD
 
I was at Glendale on Friday and bought a couple of TL R2 Points for a bit of work that I am doing on the DR. Asked if the latest TL R2 Points have the Magnetic Reed Switch Frog Changing mech. Not yet but TL are gradually converting the range. However there is a Retro Kit TL 20030 that will do the job with a bit of Soldering and Wire. At £15.75 each not cheep, but well worth the trouble saved in my view. Will do a Photo Shoot and description when I do the Job.
JonD
 
We've used the TL switches in the states with the reed switch. While it is indeed a heavy duty reed switch, I do not see how it could handle some of the heavier current trains here, I doubt that switch will handle much more than one amp... but so far no failures. Other than that, seems to be fine, but the magnet has come unglued on a couple of switches here used outdoors, in mild weather, they may need regluing.

Greg
 
Greg Elmassian said:
We've used the TL switches in the states with the reed switch. While it is indeed a heavy duty reed switch, I do not see how it could handle some of the heavier current trains here, I doubt that switch will handle much more than one amp... but so far no failures. Other than that, seems to be fine, but the magnet has come unglued on a couple of switches here used outdoors, in mild weather, they may need regluing.

Greg
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Yes Greg, I've used the TL R7 switches here in Northwest Florida. None have failed, but the reed switches have come unglued in the humidity. I've also rebuilt all of them to the latest frog size using the kit from Axel at Train Li. He's always helpful. Of course I now have some 'old' R7 sleeper (tie) bases and am itching to find something to do with them
 
Greg Elmassian said:
We've used the TL switches in the states with the reed switch. While it is indeed a heavy duty reed switch, I do not see how it could handle some of the heavier current trains here, I doubt that switch will handle much more than one amp... but so far no failures. Other than that, seems to be fine, but the magnet has come unglued on a couple of switches here used outdoors, in mild weather, they may need regluing.

Greg
Click to expand...
Funny that unglueing, mine failed with just that problem after I was clearing up the Railway in Saturday evening. What I have done is to Tape it back in place with a small bit of Gaffa Tape. Also used some to hold the Circuit Board in better on the bottom. As this Curved Point is indoors this should be OK. Will have to think of a better plan for the 2 that will be outdoors. All the other TL R2's are in the Shed, have Micro Switches bolted on for Polarity changes and have not caused any problems except for small running and shorting hitches which I have alluded to elsewhere.

https://www.gscalecentral.net/threads/trainline45-r2-points.301108/page-2

JonD
 
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