How I added constant voltage to Lionel 027 - 042 switch #65168 (photos)

Thank you for posting the photos. pretty straight forward set up on these switches.  one thing worth noting is that on these switches the coils are active whenever something is on their rails, so make sure you don't park a train then walk away leaving your constant voltage source turned on.  There are ways to modify this as well, but the first one that comes to mind involves relays and capacitors, which seem confusing to many folks around here.  

Yes, the straight section 'trigger' rail is especially long on this model switch.  When a train is parked on the rails, I can hear the solenoid buzzing.   I've seen a capacitor circuit somewhere that allows very low current to get through after the points are thrown, hence you can leave a parked train on the rail.    Another problem with this model switch is that my passenger car rollers short the center and outside.  You can see that there is not much of a gap.   So, I used masking tape to cover the moving metal points.  (this does not happen on my 027 - 1122 switches).

Dave 

Someone suggested that I use black nail polish instead of masking tape.  So I will try that.

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Thanks John, that's my diagram from my page:

http://www.josephrampolla.com/capdischarge.html

Take care, Joe.

I just found it in Google Images and it looked like what I was trying to say.  Nice to tie it into a whole page.

Does this circuit increase the voltage some?  For instance, if I am running my engine at say 10 volts, how much more voltage is given by the capacitor to activate the selonoid?

It just runs the switches on DC power.  If you have them wired for separate power, 10-12 volts AC should be plenty.