mackb4 posted:Rairoads used spring loaded switches for years,as well as trolley and traction companies.
This is something that can be made out of a manual switch and spring setup I'm sure.
The trailing point direction needs to be the reverse move,or the direction you run thru the switch.
Nope. How does the switch change directions in the facing point movement? This is the crux of the problem. It must be an electrically powered switch. Spring won't do.
I was a computer science major in college. If there was one thing I learned from that experience, it was the "Universal problem solving algorithm". It is very simple, and has just four steps:
- Understand the problem!
- Have an idea
- Make sure your idea solves the problem
- Implement your idea
So far, suggestions offered have mainly failed on step one, not entirely understanding the problem.
Boilermaker1 posted:Easiest solution, put the switch machine button on the bumper and let the trolley push it.
Otherwise, I don’t see why you couldn’t rig up an isolated section of track to activate the the switch motor like an anti-derail would function.
This one actually made it to step three before running into trouble. How does the button know which way to throw the switch? A: You need a way to keep track of the current condition, then reset to the opposite at the end of each cycle.
If I seem a little passionate and perhaps defensive on this topic, it's because I have a good deal of experience dealing with relay logic to solve train movement problems like this one. To me this is a bit of a puzzle, one that I have never wanted to solve prior to this, but the gauntlet has been thrown.
I am not suggesting that mine is the only way to do this. However, of all the suggestions thus far, it's the only one that has solved the problem. I'm 99.9% sure this solution will work, as I have done a relay logic sequencing operation before, with a four track yard. This is just a two position task, as I explained in my first post here.
I'll put pencil to paper and draw a schematic as proof of the solution. It might take a day or so.
