Reply to "Under The Hood: Changing Postwar Lionel Brushes (and Springs!)"

@cpasam posted:

Suppose I remove the fiber pin from that leg of the 022, replace it with a metal pin, then add a half track with a fiber pin at the end: will that then trigger the non-derail feature sooner?

This is a long-used method but there is one caveat to your proposal... the ties on your extension "half track" must first be insulated from your added trigger rail.

Otherwise, it can be any length section to increase the timing for better switch operation, and it doesn't even need to be adjacent to the switch if that's not convenient - you can place the insulated rail section anywhere on the layout.

This is the method also for adding non-derailing to switches like the 1121 that lack that feature built-in.