Automated Lane Changer for Artin 1/43
In the following you will find the details on how I built an automated lane changer, useful for pit lane entry or if you want to combine multiple layouts on a track. Total Cost $12.00 for the two solenoids on top of the track piece cost ($10.00), and about $5.00 for the four push buttons at the driver stations.
In Artin 1/43, the following two track pieces are available: the Split piece (left, part number 4551, $10) and the Join piece (right, part number 4550, $10)
Based on the existence of these pieces, I have modified the split piece (left picture) so that the direction in which the cars exit that track piece can be remotely controlled from the pits. All you have to do to make this, is buy a couple of railroad model track point motor (for about $6.00 each), four electrical push buttons, and be willing to do some cutting of plastic.
As it stands, the split track piece works as follows. A car enters from the right of the picture (below).
Depending on the setting of the points, the car will exit this track piece either straight or turn across. However, as the car goes through the points, their position will change such that the next lap around, the car will go the other way (i.e. first lap, car goes straight, second lap car turns, third lap car goes straight, and so on). This enables you to have two different layouts that the car will go through alternatively each lap. The way it works is that as the guide pin goes through the points it pushes against their side and forces them to move over to the other direction.
This is a great track piece and at very little cost, this lane change can be automated to be used as a pit entry lane or to have two combined layouts on your table that you can pick which, at the push of a button, you can run on. The following picture is an example of a layout that takes advantage of such a track piece so you can pick between an oval (Indy type) or a road course (the change is at the top right of the picture) It is also used at the bottom left for the entry to the pit lane.
The following description applies to adapting the track piece to have remote controlled pit entry lane, but with very minor changes can be adapted to course selection.
The first thing to do is to find some “points motor” (in effect just a bidirectional or also called push-pull solenoid) that are typically made for HO scale railroad models. I picked the Atlas #52 switch because of its low profile and its low cost ($6.00). You can use the right or left switch, as it will not matter for this application.
The first thing to do is to take the plastic housing of the point motor apart, making sure to save the small plastic and copper extenders (the copper extender simply hooks into the solenoid core) that connect to the solenoid.
Once this is done, cut the plastic housing right at the edge of the solenoid (i.e. right at the end of the cylindrical part of the housing, before the flat part) making sure to leave the small lip that stops the solenoid core when the solenoid is actuated
Then flatten one end of the small copper extender and cut the plastic extender midway through, right after the center part that has a hole in it. Then glue (CA glue preferred) the copper extended and the plastic extender such that the part with the hole is at the end.
Now, the track piece itself needs to be modified a bit. First remove the back cover and cut an opening into it, see picture below. Don’t worry if you lose the small springs that are likely to pop out from the points when you do that, you will not need them. You will need to pull pretty hard (try not to bend it to much) on that cover to get it off. Then you will need to de-solder all cross wires. Make sure to rewire them at the end, after you are done with everything else (before putting the cover back J) or your cars will find themselves stuck in the middle of the track piece if you take it a bit slow. When you rewire them though, make sure they do not interfere with the proper operation of the solenoid and the points.
Then you need to do a bit of trimming (see picture below). Trim the plastic under the track so the copper/plastic arm moves freely. You might also have to trim the plastic tack to which the hole in the plastic arms attaches as well as the inner part of the plastic around the hole in the arm, such that when the arm extends or retracts the points actually rotate freely.
Then, remove the track point itself and trim it (see pictures below) such that when the car will go straight through the track piece the points are not forced into the other position. However, leave the other side, so that when the car enters the pit lane, the points will be rested to the straight position by the guide as it goes through, and for the subsequent laps, the car will go straight through the track piece, until you make it go back into the pits again.
If you were to do this modification for a course selection piece rather than pit entry lane, you probably will want to trim both sides of the point this way so they are never changed as the cars go through either straight or turn.
Re-hook the copper extender into the solenoid and mount the solenoid housing under the track so that in the fully extended position, the points are set in the straight direction. To do that, mount the small hole at the end of the plastic extender onto the outer plastic tab of the point itself (see picture below)
Make sure that the solenoid is roughly lined up with the copper/plastic extender and then glue (CA glue) the plastic housing of the solenoid in place. To do that, you might have to cut (very carefully) through some of the various plastic tabs that can be found on the bottom of the track piece.
Obviously, you now have to do the same thing for the second lane of the track piece, but just replicate the work from the first lane, that’s what I did.
Now comes the electrical portion of the work. The solenoid will take about 15V max, I would recommend to work at 12 V. Hook three wires to the three terminals at the back of the solenoid housing using the small screws of the Atlas point motor. Then put the cover back into place. Make sure your wires are long enough to either go through a hole in your table underneath the track piece or to go wherever you need from the side of the track piece.
The wire connected to the center screw is to be ground (or negative from your power supply) the other two will require +12V. The solenoid only requires temporary power to switch (it actually would burn eventually if you left power applied too long), so we will then use two push buttons. One on the pull wire to make the solenoid go into the pit entry lane position, one on the push wire which will be used to cancel the pit entry command if desired. Remember, once the car has passed through the points and entered the pit lane, the points will automatically reset to the straight through direction of the lane changer track piece. Here is a schematic diagram of the wiring:
That’s it; you now have a remote pit lane entry system ready to go. It is low profile but the cylinder of the solenoid will extend a couple of millimeters below the track bottom. For me it is not an issue as I have a fairly thick piece of fake grass type outdoor carpet on my table, but if you have a hard surface you might need to either elevate that track piece by a couple of millimeters or drill an opening in the surface below to fit it. Another option might be to use Marklin solenoids instead of the Atlas (I have not verified this and can not vouch for this info as I could not find any of them locally) as they are supposedly much lower profile.
Last Update: 8/20/06 Drop me a note