Alright, where have these been hiding?

Awesome ...My es44s have a nightmares going threw these cause of the semi fixed pilots .. This sounds like a winner to me..

Rix has been around forever!!! Aimed to the HO crowd but they have lots of good stuff!!!!

http://www.rixproducts.com/6280001.htm

Call Steve at Ross.  He will tell you all about them.

They've been around forever; i've used them for over 20 years now. It's amazing how much stuff aimed at the HO market can be used in O. Sometimes we just need to get our heads out of the clouds and look at the rest of the world (RR world that is).

Radical.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJt0inKFBAo

I mentioned them a few weeks ago. Used them for a layout two layouts back and I'm going back to them for my new layout. They always worked and you don't see any machine on top of the layout. I have boxes of them that I saved, thank goodness. 

You work so hard making your railroad look good but those darn switch machines on top ruin the look of everything. As you can see, you can use any number of switch machines with them. They are easy to install. The first one will take a little longer but once you get one under your belt, it's easy. The trick is to get the hole in the right place and the right size for for the wire to easily move back and forth. It you use ballast you need to make sure it's glued down good around the hole. That was the only problem I have had , loose ballast getting in the hole and jamming the wire. It's really not a big problem once you know about it. Glad you found them. I personally like the larger machines as apposed to the Z machines because they are more powerful and bullet proof. Also it's easier to hook up signals. Don

I went and checked out RixRax and I may use these to put my switch machines below the table just for appearance sake if nothing else. Funny thing to me is I don't recall ever seeing these discussed before.

Oh one other thing Paul, make sure your switch is not over a 2x4 joist. Don

Good point Don! LMAO you mean that don't adjust that much? lol!

True John, I really think I like the ghost look better.

Will second everything Don said; but in my case it took installing more than one to get the knack down. Guess i'm just a slow learner. Also agree about the larger machines for the more powerful throw. Right now i'm using twin coil switch machines (Tenshodo and NJI brands), but if i were to do it over (changing over 30 switch machines is not my idea of fun) i'd use Tortoise machines.

There is another advantage to these machines. Cost. You can get the Rix Rax for under $5.00 and pick up the coil switch machines cheap on E-bay. Tortoise are much more expensive. Just checked E-bay HO switch machines. You can buy ten used working coil Tenshodo for about $60. That makes the set about $10 each. That's cheap. Don

I have all Ross switches on hand for the expansion and DZ-1000's switch machines. I will pick up some of the brackets and use the DZ-1000's.

Golfer, once you do it your going to notice how bad the older machines look on your other switches and I bet you replace them too. Walthers has them in stock. Don

My older switches are MTH RealTrax switches actually. I will be transitioning to Gargraves track and Ross switches on the expansion. I couldn't bring myself to tear down the layout so I am adding a 18x10 extension. Since the RealTrax is all ballasted I think the transition will not look bad. I am planning on a crossing right at the point of transition so that should help also making it less noticeable.

Paul.....just wondering why you are doing your expansion with different track?

Alan