Maiden Voyage with K-Line 42" O27 Switches - Need Help

Those switches are nothing but junk.  I bought 6 of them for $5.00 ea knowing they had many problems.  I thought  I could tinker with them and use them in a yard.  Well that was $30 down the drain.  Even when you think you've got the bugs worked out they'll come back to bite you.  Lesson learned.  Take the rails off them and use for a scrap load.

wild mary posted:

Those switches are nothing but junk.  I bought 6 of them for $5.00 ea knowing they had many problems.  I thought  I could tinker with them and use them in a yard.  Well that was $30 down the drain.  Even when you think you've got the bugs worked out they'll come back to bite you.  Lesson learned.  Take the rails off them and use for a scrap load.

Thanks for the feedback.  I saw a lot of positive reviews on these from others and hope they chime in and tell me what I'm doing wrong. This will be a more expensive lesson for me than $30.  I've got 10 of them for about $200.

Something I did to an old Lionel 027 switch base as it was either this or the garbage; I installed a DZ-1000 switch motor I bought on line from Ross Custom switches. Not sure if that would work with the K-Line switches or not.

Lee Fritz

Do the pick up rollers on your Junior Berk span the plastic diamond in the middle of the switch?  This may be the cause of slowing or stopping.  If that's the case there have been threads about rectifying that situation.  Once you get the stalling fixed maybe you can run an engine through the gravel switch at slower speed and see what's causing the de-rail.

Here's a fix the BOBBY OGAGE posted on 1/22/14 for MTH/Lionel 42" switches.  This will probably solve your derailing problems on your K Line switches..  Wish I saw this when I trashed my switches.

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Which version of the Kline O-27 switches with 42" curve do you have. At the time of Kline's death, there were TWO versions in circulation. The last version featured low switch stands with LED lights and got good reviews for operating reliability. This version replaced the older version with high mechanism and bulb lighting. Since Kline did not change the product #, it can be difficult to offer trouble-shooting advice.

Tony

Up on "The D & H Bridge Line"

Here a recent topic on adding a roller pick-up to the tender.  This will prevent your loco from stopping on the switch.  https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/t...-pickup-to-an-engine

ALCO Fan posted:

Which version of the Kline O-27 switches with 42" curve do you have. At the time of Kline's death, there were TWO versions in circulation. The last version featured low switch stands with LED lights and got good reviews for operating reliability. This version replaced the older version with high mechanism and bulb lighting. Since Kline did not change the product #, it can be difficult to offer trouble-shooting advice.

Tony

Up on "The D & H Bridge Line"

It appears I have the older version with the bulb lighting (two bayonet bulbs, one red, one green).

wild mary posted:

Here's a fix the BOBBY OGAGE posted on 1/22/14 for MTH/Lionel 42" switches.  This will probably solve your derailing problems on your K Line switches..  Wish I saw this when I trashed my switches.

I haven't even gotten as far as taking the engine through the curved portion of the switch. The engine is derailing through the straight.  However, it's just one of the four switches on the mainline, so I'm guessing it's something with this one switch in particular. I'm going to investigate it in more detail, but thanks for posting the fix that above. That gives me some ideas what to look for.