6-23011 switches- are they ok?

Danger!Danger! stay away! Very problem prone, that's why the short production run.

Loves to derail your trains!

I had then on my layout several years without any problems back when i was using tubular track. 

They're so-so, they're problematic when it comes to post-war wheels on rolling stock and some loco's. The old post-war wheels tend to de-rail sometimes when going through the curved leg of the switch. The more modern rolling stock with the "fast- angled" wheels (from 1970-up) run through them without a hitch. I've got a few and they work o.k., but no, not as solid as 022's.  Thats one reason (among many) they stopped production of them in favor of the older, more reliable design of the 022 switches.          

I have a bunch of them, and after a bit of modification, they work pretty well.  The nice thing about these is you can remove the lantern and use them in a very tight spaced yard.  If you have the tight quarters, they're a viable alternative to 022 switches.

As far as manual operation, there is a lever on the side to manually operate them.

Hi gunrunnerjohn, I'm curious, what did you do to modify them?

I have to agree with Chuck, they (23010 & 23011)are the worst switch that I have ever seen!! And Lionel won't stand behind their DUD!

Derailing an engine is only the tip of the iceberg so to speak. How about total electrical failure? This happened to me on a my layout in a hard to access area, so I took the switch out and replaced with a Gargraves switch. When this is about to happen the light inside the switch base starts blinking on & off several times and then just up and dies!

I called Williams repair department to see if they had a cure for the switch, their reply was to replace the badly designed switch. This is after Lionel refused to acknowledge a problem with the switch when I called them.

Unfortunately I still have one of these switches left, but it is used in an area close to the control panel so I can manually throw the switch, it is unpowered.

Lee Fritz

I tapered the plastic swivel track and also ground a small depression in the track for it to seat in.  My major issue with these was that they'd work fine for the "thru" position, but the "out" route would frequently derail.  After the mod, they worked pretty well. 

I'm not saying they're the highest quality switch you can find, but they fill a unique niche due to their size for some applications.

I even went with a modification from Classic Toy Trains a few years back, using a piece of copper strip in the frog or turn out area and this helped some with an SD-45 but it still had issues until it died.

For what it is worth, the post war 022 switches were the hghest quality switch that Lionel made. My 2 cents.

Lee Fritz

the point gunnerjohn raises is exactly why I am interested in them "size matters" - these guys might save me an 072 switch cost.  Where did you taper the plastic swivel- where it meets the metal track?  I also see a small guide on the right which could be where you tapered some plastic too.

Thanx, I might give that a try, I replaced some of my post-war operating car wheels with modern fast angle wheels, that seemed to do the trick with them, but had de-railing issues with a Williams semi-scale GG-1 that did not like those switches at all.

If you want a reliable switch for 031 in tubular try using Gargraves switches or Ross Custom switches. With Gargraves switches you have the same feature that the Lionel 23010 series has, partial curve on the switched piece that allows you to put them really close to each other. Due to the design of the Gargraves switches you need to put a small piece of track, one and a half inches, between the two switches to provide outside rail, power both outside rails, electric power.

Lee Fritz

My problem was with Williams engines trying to go thru the 23010 series switches. When the Williams engine got within two track sections of the offending 23010 switch, the switch would go bonkers and through the switch piece at almost 50 times a second. Would only do this with a Williams engine, a Lionel engine would work great with the switch.

Others have told me that I need to look at the track pins and insert the insulated pins in their proper places, but that is not the issue! It is a Williams engine and the 23010 switch, because as I have mentioned the Lionel engine worked great right after the Williams engine.

Lee Fritz

I had one that behaved in a similar fashion, upon closer scrutiny, I found that the manual slide switch button on the 23011 that was doing that, was not fully engaged. The switch didnt fully "set" in position causing the eratic flipping on the switch. The remedy for that was to increase the voltage on the track when throwing the switch so that the switch would fully engage into position. Still didnt solve the de-railing issue though. So, that could be the situation with yours, or, maybe not, those switches are very temperamental.

My layout has 11 of them on it, and they work okay sometimes. I bought them before I knew how bad they are (the $200 price for 14 should have tipped me off), and now I have my layout set up for them in their smallest forms, so I cannot replace them.

I actually like that they can be made smaller, and that you can switch the light's side, or remove it altogether, but nobody seems to have noticed that the moving part of the switch is not the same height as the rails, so some engines act like they hit a Pennsylvania-sized pothole.

The next layout will probably be all O-22 switches...

You're talking about the thru route going straight?  That movable rail does impart a bump to the locomotive as it goes through, true enough.

I installed them on mine back in the 90's.  They've worked ever since.

Jon

There's plenty of them available, I'm sure we can replace those for you.