Some time ago I picked up a box of standard gauge track for $5.00. Most of it was kind of rough but in the bottom of the box was 4 #210 switches. They looked like what you would expect for their age, discolored and rusty. I needed a manual switch for my floor layout so I decided to try restoring one of the 210’s ( which of course lead to doing 2 of them, you have to have a pair, and a 222 I had laying around). Below are pictures of what they looked like when I started and what they look like now.
After complete disassembly everything got a bath in Evaporust for a few days and then a thorough wash. The bases were primed with etching primer and then painted with Rustoleum that I mixed to approximate the green on my MTH switches. The rails were cleaned after their evaporust bath and painted with Rustoleum chrome paint. To do this the tabs on the rails were stuck into corrugated cardboard and then lightly sprayed with the chrome paint. This paint coating makes the rails non conductive. After the rails were reattached to the base the tops were sanded and then wiped with lacquer thinner to restore conductivity. The finished product looks good compared to my MTH switches. So now it’s time to add a siding and another passing track to my basement floor empire.
