AF control buttons

Can you post a picture? I have very few of the "1946" buttons. Are they all 2 wire (SPST) with one button? The two button controllers usually had a red and a green button.

Okay here they are:

Tom Stoltz

in Maine

They appear to be just standard control buttons. The couple I have use black pushbuttons and I think they are all brown. I am not aware of any color significance with the single buttons. Maybe someone else has some insights.

Accessory buttons are just SPST momentary switches.  I used inexpensive compact mini push button switches as my layout required several dozen for track switches, uncoupling sections and accessories that require a SPST push button switches.

Below is my picture of the main control panel with 57 mini push button momentary switches with Red and Green for track switches, Blue for uncoupling sections and Black for others.  Mini Black slide DPST (better when two poles are connected for higher amps) switches are used to activate or deactivate a section of track.  They show Black for OFF and White for ON.  Most switches are in the actual position of the track they control. I could not have made the control panel the small size and functional without the use of mini switches instead of the manufactures made large foot print switches.  Most of these mini switches were purchased 40 years ago at Radio Shack but eBay has them now,  You can mount mini switches in a small component box if not mounted in a control panel.

Control Panel Below is 16 inches wide and 9 inches high. The new Wye is shown bottom right.  Reversing in each direction, inside loop oval and figure 8, and outside loop Wye

New train board control panel, Loop reversing with oval and dog bone

Charlie

Charlie, I was admiring that control panel  in the other thread along with the layout.

@AmFlyer posted:

They appear to be just standard control buttons. The couple I have use black pushbuttons and I think they are all brown. I am not aware of any color significance with the single buttons. Maybe someone else has some insights.

Tom, you are correct, they are the old standard SPST push buttons.  I was wondering if the color of the button ant significance to the type of accessory it controlled.

I have a box of buttons that I'm going to dig out to see if I have any more variations.

Tom Stoltz

in Maine

Tom, I understood your question. I am not aware of any significance to the plastic body color or the button color on the single button controllers. I think it was just random how the buttons were shot in the molds and then assembled with the other parts. Those were then randomly selected from a bin to be packed with uncouplers, billboard whistles, etc. At least that is my semi-educated assumption. The red and green colors of the pushbuttons were intended for the two button controllers used with accessories like the magnetic crane, semaphores and coal loader.

@AmFlyer posted:

then randomly selected from a bin to be packed with uncouplers, billboard whistles, etc. At least that is my semi-educated assumption

That sounds sorta reasonable to me.  I wouldn't think the buttons would have been mixed in a bin.  So could the assembled controllers have been mixed?  Or maybe the assembler ran out of black buttons and the foreman told them to take a handful from one of the colored button bins to make up the difference?  Or maybe there was a color assignment for each... like black for uncouplers, red for action cars, and green for whistles, talking stations.  The layout drawings in the early catalogs all have red buttons, but I doubt that would be a hint.  Hey, how about this one; black, unlabeled control buttons for '46, red labeled for '47, and green labeled for '48?

Maybe I should just go work on some trains...

Tom Stoltz

in Maine

I think you are onto something. I prefer the newer style buttons and have a good selection of black, white and marbled buttons. For uncouplers as an example, I had enough that I could use black for an outer loop, white for an inner loop and marbled for sidings. You could do the same with the older style buttons based on the color of the pushbutton.

The mini push button momentary switches my control panel came in red or black.  I painted them green, light blue and white with Testor's small bottled enamel paint.  I used dots of 1/8 inch color diameter dots from Dymo plastic tape, cut with a hole punch, were added to each push button switch to increase durability of the paint on the buttons.

Charlie

Charlie, I would not have thought to use the colored Dymo tapes the way you did.

What Tom is trying to do is determine if Gilbert had any system or rules for which button was paired with each accessory from 1946 through early 1949. We think that for single button controllers it was random but it never hurts to ask and do some research on these obscure topics.

CCC, interesting layout design with several reverse direction paths possible within the inner portion.  What do you use to allow that to happen?  Thanks.   Dave

@Sgaugian posted:

CCC, interesting layout design with several reverse direction paths possible within the inner portion.  What do you use to allow that to happen?  Thanks.   Dave

3 rail track

Tom Stoltz

Sgaugian

I have added to my above post talking of reversing trains on both train boards.  Below is an overall view of both train boards

The OGR topic below explains how I built the 027 (close to S gauge size) layout with working homemade $10 turntable.  Index at bottom of page1, post 1.

https://ogrforum.com/...fties-era-027-layout

Charlie

Thanks Charlie.  Looks like fun.  Clearly, as far as direction reversals, I missed the fact it has 3-rail track.  But nicely done just the same.  Enjoy.  Dave