HELP WITH SWITCH MACHINES

Those are good old twin-coil switch machines that have been around for decades. The machine is mounted on a Tortoise-style bracket, which you may choose not to use.

The three connections on the right in your photo are the connections for throwing the machine back and forth. 12 to 18 volts AC or DC will work just fine.  The center terminal is the common connection and the others are the power to throw the switch each way. You must use momentary contact buttons/switches with these machines. You press the button which applies power to the coil, the switch moves and you let off the button to stop the current flow.

The multiple contacts on the left can be used to switch track power, set a signal aspect, turn on a light on a control panel or any other use you can envision.

You got a good buy.

Thank you for the guidance,  Rich.  I am building a DCS layout.  From what I gather from your post, these aren't ideal for DCS, much like Lionel O27 profile switches.  Is that correct?

You can wire the NJ Intl machines for DCS very easy  Use the 3 wires that Rich identified for throwing the machine   These three wires get connected to the same type three connections on the AIU   The common is in the middle on both

Awesome.   Now I need to figure out how to connect them to the switch itself.  I figure these can be hidden away, underneath the layout, even, right?

Here is the instruction sheet.  I have more info I can send off line. 
Email in profile or through website>

Basil,

If you need anymore guidance my e-mail is kb2agpjohn@aol.com or 848-992-2157 on my cell phone but the Coil are only designed for DC current not

''AC" current  your burn out the coil. Be careful.  There is two single pole double throw switches. 

Good luck, John

   If these are DC coils, but you ran AC, a diode(s) or bridge bridge rectifier should do the trick.

I have several of these mounted on the layout at my parents'. They are mounted vertically under the table. The wire sticks up through the table, and into the hole in the switch throw bar. It is set up so that when the switch is thrown, the top end of the wire moves the distance needed to close the switch points + maybe 1/8 to 3/16" extra. This way, the natural springiness of the wire being deflected to the side provides tension to keep the points in place. I made my own brackets, but the bracket in your picture appears to be designed for the same sort of mounting.

Here is one on the layout I am building now. It is mounted in a similar way, but horizontally. This is in a staging area, so no one will have to see the hack job I did on the fastrack switch

You can see that I have the extra contacts wired up (I am doing automatic routing in conventional), but if you are going to use DCS, I think you need only worry about the three contacts on the right side, right next the the coil. I do not know what the guys are talking about who are telling you these have to be run on DC, unless there is something very different about NJ machines.  Mine are all from Kemtron and Pacific Fast Mail, and they work fine on about 14 volts AC. The main thing is to be sure that the power is applied only for the short time it takes to throw the switch, because these will burn out if powered continuously.

This forum never ceases to amaze me with all the helpful people.  Thank you all very much!

Basil,  If you are worried about coil burnout, I would suggest you use a capacitive discharge power supply for those twin coil switch machines. A couple of dollars worth of parts from Radio Shack and less than an hour of your time and you will be set.  I built one about 30 years ago and it still works today.   Earl G.

You made a good buy.  I had a dozen of them on my old layout but went to Z-Stuff on my new layout because they are easier to wire and come with their own push buttons.  I wish I had kept the old NJs because they are very reliable.  Never had one fail.  I did save three of them and plan to use them in far away places I absolutely don't want a failure.

Dennis

I'm really getting a sense of that!  The best thing is I bought 10 switches and got 12 motors!  The guy was super generous.