Fun With Lionel #1122 and #5122 Non-Derailing Turnouts
Heres' another one from my old channel.
One of the goals for my old FUN Lines layout was to provide plenty of action with simple controls for my twin 7-year-old boys. The inside loop of the layout featured a common O27 track layout in a combination figure-8 / oval. This provided plenty of operating possibilities in a small area with the option of using either of two reverse loops, a 90-degree crossing, and the option of simply running laps on the outside oval. However, when a simple wiring scheme was added to Lionel's non-derailing switch feature a new level of interest became possible with automatic, hands-free dispatching over the different routes
Lionel's O27 turnouts from the #1122 of 1952 through the MPC era's #5121 and #5122 turnouts all feature an internally-wired non-derailing feature. The wheels of the train itself become part of the electrical circuit to throw the points of the turnout in the direction of the oncoming train. What many operators do not realize, however, is that this same mechanism can be used to operate additional electrical circuits as well.
In this case, I ran two wires between the turnouts at the right side of the layout so that the binding post for the curved leg of one turnout was wired to the binding post for the straight leg of the opposite turnout. The result was that when a train engaged the non-derailing feature of one of the turnouts the second turnout threw in the opposite direction at the same time. This worked even though the two turnouts were from different eras of Lionel production (a #1122 of the Postwar era and a #5122 of the MPC era). The remaining turnouts were left alone. This caused the train to circumnavigate the layout in a complex pattern in-and-out of the figure 8 while repeatedly reversing direction. While the pattern did repeat, it took the casual viewer some time to recognize the pattern and so the train seemed to be changing paths at will!
Observe the video and notice how the train changed routes automatically. All of this action took place with NO SWITCH CONTROLLERS wired to the turnouts. Only the automatic non-derail and the two wires previously described were used!
If you want the ability to turn the automatic function off at will simply add an SPDT (single pole, double throw) switch into the circuit between the two connected turnouts to turn the connection feed off or on.
Hopefully, this will inspire you to create other new and exciting options for your layout.
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