ryd -in standard switches

Terry,

Have you considered Ross?  I have heard nothing but good things.  It's probably worth the investment from what I have seen on the forum of your fantastic collection.

From what I understand, the Ross frog design is unique and is the only one that will accommodate some engines. I sold my MTH switches and will be buying Ross when I start my next layout.

George

Terry, I collected Ryd-In switches for a while and was really excited about them.  It's been a while, so bear with me, I forget some of the details.   I particularly liked their "high speed" SG switch,  but I also had several of their 72s and something larger - 96 maybe?  The problem with the Ryd-Ins is that they were a great switch but..,. the points (and maybe some other parts too - the frogs?) are diecast, very soft zamac, and suffer from deterioration.  The combination of the soft casting bending every time the switch was thrown, excessive wear of the points due to the softness, and the deterioration, I could not get any of them to work well enough for the layout.  They were "worn out".   I sold them, and I think there are several groups of these that keep circulating on the auction sites.

Next I tried the Gargraves SG switches. Their flaw was that the rails are not high enough for the flanges on standard gauge trains, so the flanges of SG locomotive wheels would bump along the plastic ties.  Trying to look more scale-realistic, I guess, but... not functional.

Finally ended up with the Ross 72 standard gauge switches, and converted most of my layout to them from the MTH 72s I had previously. They are definitely the best SG switches available at the moment. They do need DC power to run their LGB switch machines.  In terms of footprint, they are exact plug-ins for the MTH 72's, (helpful if you are retrofitting a layout as I was), except that the switch machine is both much smaller and also can be flipped to either side of the switch. Ross makes a #4 SG switch, supposedly for yards, but it takes up about twice as much room as the 72, which doesn't compute: I built my yard with Ross 72s.

david

Amen!! Go with Ross for SG switches; you'll be glad you did. 

I'll add my support for Ross.  Save the "DC powering of the switch motor" issue, they are excellent.  I beta tested the prototype, and have found no issues with the running capabilities from a ton of differing equipment.  Every single loco and power roller has gone through without issue...every one!  This includes odd makes like large gear super motors, Ives, Flyer, Boucher, McCoy, CMD, JAD etc. that guest operators have brought along.

thanks for the great help  guys,,,,,if I get to York in the fall I will look up ross,,,,,not sure if I want to go back to any switches yet ,,,,,,but this info helps,,,,

I have 2 pairs of rydlin switches and never used or even tested them. I hope they are not worn out as Hojack says. They are 144 diameter.

F&G RY posted:

I have 2 pairs of rydlin switches and never used or even tested them. I hope they are not worn out as Hojack says. They are 144 diameter.

I think those are the ones they called the "high speed" switches, the train hardly notices the curve as it flies through.  Great idea and generally ruggedly made.  Switches to get excited about.