All Spurs now have power indicator lights (aka lighted bumpers).
I had Lionel lighted bumpers however the bulbs were rated at 12 volts which to me made no sense since typical command control track voltage is 18 volts. I popped out the light sockets from these bumpers and bought more unlighted bumpers at a swap meet a while back. I painted all the bumpers black.
Next I found 18V red lights from Cir-Kit Concepts
To make these work in the bumpers I drilled a hole in the top to fit a Plastruct SX-4 'stand' and glued it in upside down.
Since I use both Atlas O and Ross track I needed to solder the leads for the lights to the appropriate terminal joiners. To start the process I threaded each light through the top of the bumper, added electrical tape on the bottom to hold the light in place and cut the leads to length.
Once that was done I soldered the leads to the appropriate terminal joiner.
The leads for each bumper were attached to the ends of the spur tracks.
Next week I start wiring turnout switch motors. I am using both Atlas O and Ross turnouts. Where I have Ross turnouts I will wire non-derail. I have both Z-Stuff DZ-1100R detectors (which when black tape is placed over the IR sensor can be used as an position indicator) and MTH dwarf signals I will be using to indicate turnout position. These indicators will be connected to the switch motors through two different relays I have - Z-Stuff DZ-1008 electronic and Atlas O 200 electro-mechanical.
All turnouts are powered with a Lionel CW-80 transformer. At first I had the turnouts powered through the programmed accessory port. I started out with all DZ-1008 relays but kept blowing them up. I found out from a friend with a fast oscilloscope that at transformer turn on the accessory port spiked to 32 volts before settling down the the programmed voltage. The DZ-1008 relays rated for 25 volts kept blowing up. This is when I started buying the Atlas O relay. I have also switched the power connection to the handle of the CW-80 so now I turn on the transformer with the handle in the off position then raise the handle to the desired voltage thereby bypassing the issue of the voltage spike.
I have all the turnout motors connected through momentary toggle switches to power. Yea I am one of those guys who uses 10 amp toggle switches for both spur power and turnouts. I really like the size - they are big and easy to handle. To protect the Atlas O relays from burnout I use a diode in line with the power connection to the relay. Note the diode will not work with the DZ-1008 due to internal electronics.
Bottom line as turnout 'things' wear out or blow up and get replaced I will be using the following - (kind a like 'if I knew then what I know now".........)
Ross Turnouts - DZ-1000 motors
Atlas O 200 relays
DZ-1100R detectors
DZ-1000 motors as replacements for Atlas O switch motors until the turnout goes south then Ross as a replacement.
