Blue Comet,

    John, Steve is giving you the absolute correct info, I had to pass on these Ross TP switches when they 1st came out, and went into FasTrack because I run original Tin Plate and I wanted to know exactly what you are asking, unfortunately you must test run every train engine and rolling stock to actually make sure which will run thru the switches and which will not.  I was unwilling to do the Ross Companies engineering for them, and develop a list of rolling stock, and engines that these beautiful Ross Tin Plate switches will accommodate.  I now use FasTrack Command Control switches because they accommodate all Lionel original & MTH repro Tin Plate engines and rolling stock.  Unfortunately Ross did not make sure these name only Tin Plate switches accommodated all real Tin Plate trains.  To bad too I really like those particular low voltage switches.

PCRR/Dave

I would guess that they would work like any other modern switch. The issue with modern designs are the drivers with gear teeth that extend out to the edge of the wheel flange, a "fat wheel" as the Marx folks call them. They will not go through a switch with close set guard rails. A lot of the old style switches used a pivoting center section that had a piece of straight and a piece of curved rail on it.

Hi Dave,

Thanks for the reply. Do you have any experience on which locos won't run through the RossPlate switches? It looks like Lionel makes a transition section so Fastrack can be joined with the old tubular track, but only straight--no curves. I have to admit it seems a bit odd to produce, market and sell a switch as "tinplate" that isn't compatible with the tinplate trains. Steve told me the SG switches are no problem--any SG trains will run through them. Makes me wonder why they couldn't do the same with the O gauge switches.

John,

   I think you are going to find that most all of the original Pre War Lionel Tin with the deep flange wheels, are not going to pass thru these new Ross Tin Plate switches, however I did not try them myself, I was unwilling to purchase and test them.  If you are using Lionel Conventional Tubular the FT transition tracks work perfectly, I suggest you use the 072 FT CC Switches, they accommodate all the Tin plate trains old and new perfectly, even at very low speeds, with DCS & Legacy/TMCC.  Operating in this manner you will have wireless low voltage FT CC switches in your Conventional layout that work like a dream, with all your different trains.  Repeated running will be a dream at either fast or slow speed.  The FT CC switches will operate perfectly from either a Legacy Cab2 or TMCC Cab1.  Further if you want to waste time and effort, you can also set them up with the DCS AIU and control them from the DCS hand held remote control.  At any rate the FT CC switches will work perfectly, set up in this manner and Charlie Nassau has all the FT CC Switches on sale right now at a reasonable cost.

PCRR/Dave

Hi again,

Any chance GarGraves would work with the old tinplate trains? I really liked the idea of the Ross #4 switch, which would maximize the use of my space.

Thanks,

John

John,

   We used GarGraves on Frank's Iron Horse Office layout, I ran my 263E on it quite a bit, however the engine sat very low on the tracks and the GG switches did not handle the 810 series rolling stock all that well.  The 2600 series Tin plate engines and rolling stock had no real problems with GG track and did go thru the GG switches on a repeat running basis even at slow speeds.  IMO GarGraves limits which Tin Plate you get to run on it to much, if you like running Tin Plate trains.  The Ross switches do not accommodate Tin Plate very well at all, if you want something similar that does, the RMT K-line SS Switches and Track work well, with all the different Tin Plate trains.

PCRR/Dave

  The Tin Plate 263E you see below is running on GarGraves track, on our Iron Horse club layout, notice it is pulling no rolling stock to run decently.  Every once in a while the 12 Wheel Tender would have problems on some of the curves also.

John,

The easiest way to remember is to think that all prewar tinplate engines require original tube track and switches. Basically, the originals require original. The majority of "hardcore" vintage tinplate operators eliminate switches all together. (example: The largest of my last two layouts had three Std Gauge loops.)

Now, before anyone out there attempts to crucify me. Please reread the above statement a few times.                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Thanks all for your replies and assistance. I guess I took the name "Rossplate" too literally and figured the switches would work with my old

trains--especially since Ross already has switches that mate up with the old tinplate tubular track. Looks to me like the only thing to be gained by using the Rossplate switches is you don't have to use their mating pins and compensate for rail height with cork roadbed. Seems a bit redundant to me, unless I'm missing something here.

Thanks for the tip on the RMT switches; I'm definitely going to look into those. I have plenty of Lionel O-72 switches but I'm trying to maximize space, which could've been done with #4 switches and low-profile switch machines. Back to the drawing board.

Thanks again.

John 

John,

   Better that you found out that only some switches are good for Tin Plate, glad we could help with what you wanted to know.  I use the 711/072 switches for many many years until I found that the Fastrack Command Control switches would accommodate all my Tin Plate engines and rolling stock. 

PCRR/Dave

Are the command Fastrack switches laid out differently than the other types? Early Marx will not run through the Fastrack switches I had.

Steve

Dave, you mention the RMT switches as being compatible with all tinplate trains. Have you had any difficulty with any trains derailing on them?

Call me crazy, but I'm tempted to buy one Rossplate switch and try to modify it. Looks like the worst that could happen is I'll be out a few $$ and some time.....but what if it works?? I really need the space that a #4 switch will provide.  

Has anyone ever tried to modify a Ross switch so anything will run through it, new and old?

Steve,

    Some early Marx engines are the exception to the rule with FT CC Switches, few people actually still run these particular engines, and I did forget to acknowledge them. 

Blue Comet,

   The RMT Super Snap Switches are actually original low voltage K-Line Super Snap engineering, and ran all our Tin Plate trains, except for some of the very early Marx engines.  No need to modify Ross switches when both the RMT SS & original K-Line SS work perfectly and the RMT SS Switches can be purchased brand new, RMT has them in stock for immediate delivery, they are outstanding high quality SS Switches, as are the

K-Line originals.

PCRR/Dave

Command Fastrack switches are mechanically identical to the non-command versions.

Thanks Dave & Roy, that's what I assumed. The best all around switch for smaller diameter layouts is the all metal Marx and some Flyer.

Steve

Dave, thanks a million. Looks like RMT will give Ross some serious competition in the tinplate-compatibility department. I sure hope RMT has plans to expand the lineup, like a #4 switch.

Wait a minute here. I bought some Ross Tinplate.

The rails are tubular, but the sheet metal is MUCH thicker. The bases look like they have been CNC-machined out of a single piece of Garolite.

They use DZ-something switch motors and that spring can go flying.

I have had engines stall on them that didn't on K-Line. I have had engines not stall on them that did on K-Line. I have a K-Line interurban that shorts on both Ross and K-Line that I don't know what to do with.

The DZ-something have short leads on them that make them hard to use on the floor, seems like they would be easier to use on a layout, drill a hole, and have a terminal block on the underside.

The switches are rugged, but cannot take having a dumb bell dropped on them. Don't ask how I know. Still haven't fixed it.

Most likely the only reason you can't run early prewar was the all brass sliding shoe, not the kind you see on postwar that is plastic with a rivet in the middle, a picture would do wonders here I suppose. I would assume that if your postwar does not have a sliding shoe, you should be OK, but I can't verify that.

But they are tubular! They mate with other tubular track including Lionel, K-Line tubular, and K-Line Shadow rail, I can vouch for that.

Illinoiscentral,

I'm not sure what you mean by a "sliding shoe." Can you elaborate?

Thanks,

John

Instead of a roller on the center rail there is a piece of metal that slides on the center rail.

Thanks Jim. Too many names for the same thing. My Dad always called them "pickup shoes" (as opposed to pickup rollers) so I wasn't sure what a sliding shoe is. I'll have to check, but I think everything in my roster has pickup rollers.

Thanks again.  

This is the sliding shoe referred to: