Model Railway Forum

Hello All,

I stuck point motors on my points, got them wired up and working (three transformers and copious amounts of single malt later...) so am now ready to have a go at ballasting.

But there's, um, a little problem. Or a big one, depending how you look at it.



I cut holes in the baseboard to drop them into and so now I'm left with this. I can only pack out and ballast so much of the hole without interfering with the motor.

Is there a solution for this, anyone got a work-around..?

Shunts

Slip some thin card or Plasticard between the track and the baseboard to cover as much of the hole as possible, making sure the point still works, then add the ballast small amounts at a time and glue in place. A pair of tweezers can be helpful and keep checking the point moves as the glue dries.

Try two L shaped pieces of plasticard (same thickness as the cork you used). Slide them in from each side maybe with a drop of glue on the outer end to hold them in place.
Only put the ballast over the plasticard not the hole in the middle, and be very sparing with the PVA/ water .




Roger types faster than me.

Thanks - I'll go and see NMMS tomorrow and purchase some plasticard with my, um, plastic.

Only trouble is every time I go and see NMMS I end up coming away with other things on top of whatever I went in for.

When I used fixed point motors directly to the points underside. I used postcard thickness card cut in to two pieces with a slot for the drive pin. This was PVA glued in place under the point.
I then went on to fix solinoid motors to the baseboards underside and only have a 9mm x 4mm wide slot under the points moving stretcher bar!

For covering the direct mounted point motor see.. https://www.brian-lambert.co.uk/Electrical-Page-3.html

Shunter wrote: ↑Wed Jun 30, 2021 6:00 pm Thanks - I'll go and see NMMS tomorrow and purchase some plasticard with my, um, plastic.

Only trouble is every time I go and see NMMS I end up coming away with other things on top of whatever I went in for.

NMMS ?

Nearest Model Monkey Shop?

Nice Man at the Model Shop.

We have a model shop run by a lovely chap who is very helpful and shares my slightly cynical outlook on life.

I used to use thin card (Post/Business card thickness) cut as per this link... Link to item