Track pressure on/off switch, that is not connected to any track current (either hot or neutral)?

How about an insulated track relay?  This will do that reliably.

Insulated Track Signal Driver, Rev. 2

As far as over-voltage on the accessory, I don't understand if the transformer is mounted away from prying fingers, how does the whistle lever get activated?

Mannyrock,

Just curious and sincerely asking this in that spirit with no snark intended. Why do you want to activate an oil pump with train action? I get it for the Gateman or the Signal Tower accessories. For an operating oil pump, I'd just use an on/off switch or a momentary button. If nothing else, your wiring would be a cinch.

For the power supply,  you might also consider a "wall-wort".   One of those little wall transformers that come with so many items any more.    Many are rated at 9v DC output and real low amperage.  

But what ever you do, you are going to need a few wires, whether it is a pressure switch or some sort of manual switch,  you have to run one wire through the switch from the power supply to the device.

Just use the 153c contactor. A little finicky to adjust, but that would do the trick.

@Train Nut posted:

Just use the 153c contactor. A little finicky to adjust, but that would do the trick.

Finicky, indeed! Those things drove me crazy and are all in the bin. They've all been replaced by insulated track sections and/or track and relays.

The thing I could never figure out was it worked fine for a half an hour. You shut the train off and went back a half hour later,  tured on the same train and it needed adjusting???    Arggghh!!@  🤬

@johnstrains posted:

Finicky, indeed! Those things drove me crazy and are all in the bin. They've all been replaced by insulated track sections and/or track and relays.

@Train Nut posted:

The thing I could never figure out was it worked fine for a half an hour. You shut the train off and went back a half hour later,  tured on the same train and it needed adjusting???    Arggghh!!@  🤬

You missed my post, no adjustment needed and they work every time.

Insulated Track Signal Driver, Rev. 2

@gunrunnerjohn posted:

You missed my post, no adjustment needed and they work every time.

Insulated Track Signal Driver, Rev. 2

John, You are correct!

.

@Mannyrock posted:

...

I am installing my Atlas Oil Pump on the back of my layout.  It runs on DC as well as AC.   (It can only handle 9 volts).

I will hook it up to a large DC Dry Cell, but I want to have a mechanical pressure switch in the DC power line that somehow is under or on  the track, so that the  Pump only comes on as the  the train passes by.  I am trying to keep this really really simple.

What do you mean by "large DC Dry Cell."  A 9V battery of some type?

Is the reason for intermittent operation (only when train passes) of Oil Pump because you're trying to conserve the battery so as to minimize how often you must change batteries?

If you are drowning in wire and not adding new wiring (like from a 9V wall-wart adapter) is of paramount concern, have you considered deriving 9V DC from AC track voltage?  Obviously there is track power available if a train is running by.  From one of your other contemporaneous threads I understand that you don't have a DC meter.  But if you at least have a wire-stripper and a screwdriver, I'm thinking for about $5 you can put together an AC-to-DC voltage converter that takes AC track voltage and converts it to 9V DC.

Yes, there still is the matter of the pressure-plate on/off switch (e.g., 153C Contactor occupancy detector) or some other triggering/activation mechanism like an insulated-rail section.  I'm simply addressing the issue of where to get 9V without adding "new" wiring from wherever.

And while I can see some "play value" if the pump triggers when the train passes, I wonder if something even simpler like the pump simply turning on and off every so many seconds would also provide interest rather than something that is always ON.  To that end, how about eliminating the pressure on/off switch and just using a cycle-timer that turns ON once a minute (or whatever) for 15 seconds (or whatever).  Such a timer module is also just a few bucks and can itself be powered by the 9V DC.

Thanks for all of these suggestions.

I have often read that the 153C connectors are really heck to adjust. 

Gunrunner, the Track Signal Drive looks really interesting.  When I click on the link, and then click on the blue link for more info, it shows a set of three wiring diagrams.     Figure 3 looks like what I want.  But, I'm a little confused by the fact that for the left hand side bank of 3 connecting screws, it shows the "hot" screw being hooked up to the "common" screw, and then this running out to the independent voltage source.   Seems like the definition of a "short"???

Stan and John, yes, I was going to maybe just use a big 9 volt dry cell.     Having it come on when the train passes is just so the set is more "animated" when the train runs.   My control board already has too many switches, and just turning it on and off with a toggle switch or button wouldn't, for me at least, make the train trip seem more "alive".

Stan, are the cycle timer switches significantly cheaper than the Track Signal Drive?   Any particular product I should look at?

Thx,

Mannyrock

@Mannyrock posted:

Gunrunner, the Track Signal Drive looks really interesting.  When I click on the link, and then click on the blue link for more info, it shows a set of three wiring diagrams.     Figure 3 looks like what I want.  But, I'm a little confused by the fact that for the left hand side bank of 3 connecting screws, it shows the "hot" screw being hooked up to the "common" screw, and then this running out to the independent voltage source.   Seems like the definition of a "short"???

Look again.

Current flows from the ground (and COM#1) terminal through the relay contacts (depending on the position of the relay), then through one of the bulbs.    The other side of the bulbs go to the high side of the power.  No short circuit here.

@Mannyrock posted:

...

Stan, are the cycle timer switches significantly cheaper than the Track Signal Drive?   Any particular product I should look at?

I cobbled together the following using "stuff" I had lying around:

I'm somewhat fascinated by your willingness to use (and occasionally replace) a 9V battery to power the pump.  I totally get the desire to minimize "new" wiring to bring in 9V DC from wherever.  I show 2 ideas in above video.

1. How about generating 9V DC from AC track voltage?  You can use an AC-to-DC voltage converter module.  The input to the module is 2-wire AC from the track, the output is 2-wire DC.  The output DC voltage is adjusted/set using a screwdriver adjustment on the module.  I realize you don't have a DC voltmeter; from another thread you don't need a fancy/expensive voltmeter.  The Harbor Freight meters would be fine for this...I'm surprised you had to pay $5 for it as I have a stash of them from when they would give them away FREE with a coupon from the Sunday paper.  I guess they don't do that anymore.   Anyway, if you don't have a meter handy, you can buy a 2-wire DC voltmeter for a couple bucks on eBay.  No learning how to use a meter, hook up the 2-wires to the AC-to-DC voltage converter output and it reads the DC voltage...end-of-story, final-answer.

I realize buying stuff from eBay-Asia is like the wild west of shopping but here are some examples today on eBay for what I'm talking about.  It really is a buyer beware as these things take weeks to show up; if you're willing to pony up 2-3x the price, pretty much any of these electronic widgets on eBay from Asia are available as fulfilled-by-Amazon with US shipping.

2. First off, let me say up front that you can never go wrong using one of GRJ's modules.  I have several of them myself!  And as long as he's alive and kicking (or squirming ) I know of no other O-gauge supplier where you'll get virtually instant OGR support to questions, issues, or whatever.

OK.  That said, my tack is more suited toward the DIY weekend warrior who doesn't mind getting his finger burned by a soldering iron.

So whether using a 9V battery or generating your own local DC 9V as described above, a DC-powered cycle-timer module can be had for less than $5.

As shown in the video, the bang-for-the-buck you get from these inexpensive widgets is quite impressive.  I arbitrarily show the module cycling ON for 5 sec, OFF for 10 sec...but you could set it to, say, 19 sec ON, 77 sec OFF, or essentially anything you can imagine.

I understand the idea of triggering the oil pump to operate when the train passes as a way to spice up the "animation" of your layout.  I was simply suggesting intermittent on-off operation as an alternative.  Needless to say this cycling method does not require modifying the track for insulated-rail triggering (and running a "new" trigger wire).

Thanks for the explanation John.   I think I  understand the diagram now. :-)

Thanks for all of the detailed advice Stan.   I have a nice bridge rectifier that I paid $25 for, and used it for a few weeks last year to convert the current running to the track from AC to DC.  The engines sure ran smoothly, but I found it easier in the big picture to go back to AC.

The reason I don't use the rectifier to bleed current off of the track is that my AC transformer is only 100 watts, and it is supplying current to run two trains,  and constant voltage to assist 8 Lionel 022 switches.  Plus, it has to power the whistle and bell functions.  I don't know how much ohms/watts/voltage/current etc. the Atlas oil pump motor would drain off of the transformer, but I want to keep a margin of reserve, because this is probably the only new transformer I will have for 5 years or so.

I am retired now with a  large place, so I am a 7-day-a-week-warrier for keeping my place up, including tractors, zero-turns, deck building, carpentry, foundation work, trim work, painting  and landscaping, so unfortunately the time I can devote to my layout is pretty limited, my hands are killing me, and spending a few hours of leisure time wiring and soldering electronics is mental agony for me.  :-)    I just want to run the trains.  :-)

Thanks again for all of the advice.

Mannyrock