The layout that I'm building has 4 - 072 switches and 9 - 022's. My plan was to work out the kinks in the track, switches, UCSs etc and then ballast the track to give it a bit of realism. All of the switches were purchased used but I cleaned, lubed and bench tested them all prior to installation. I'm really having second thoughts about ballasting the track because of the seemingly endless problems with the switches. Perhaps my expectations aren't realistic, after all these were meant to be toys but the continued need to adjust and fiddle is really taking the fun out of it.
I've considered buying Ross switches to get past the problem but they represent a fair amount of bucks and I'm reluctant to spend that much without a fair certainty that they would end the majority of switch issues.
Is this just a part of the "fun" or is it reasonable to expect the Lionel switches to maintain some level of dependability without daily attention. Apologies for the "venting" it's been a long frustrating day of installing and removing switches from the layout to attempt repairs and adjustments.
