Remote Controls for switches & other STUFF (another one of those technical terms)
All of the controllers you will see here are substantially advanced replacements for the original Lionel style controllers. They provide more options and are a lot more fun to use, and utilize modern electronics as well as top quality no rot cables. As with all our devices they come with complete wiring diagrams. We also are always available via email Tinman or phone to answer any questions you nay have (262-914-0057). AS with all our products they come with a 2 year warranty.
A word about the 25’ long cords. Thanks to one of you guys, we discovered our normal cords while fine at 8’ may have issues at much longer lengths. So what we have done is now offer all of our devices that may draw significant current an option of a 25’ cord which is a much heavier cord. And we thought we were so clever! You guys out there are the really smart ones!
What are these? Simple answer is they are a controller for 2 remote control switches, with huge ultra-bright long lasting red and green LED’s. They are designed to work with virtually any 2 or 3 rail remote control switch. It will show the operator which direction their switches are turned at the remote control. For example, it will work with all the Marx, K line, Atlas, MTH American flyer, and of course Lionel switches, including those made by K line and have the Lionel brand. It will also work with the O22 style switches and can cure a lot of sluggish or non-working issues with those model switches! It has many extra features not found in any factory made controls.
Each unit comes with 8′ of no rot vinyl cable to go from the controller to each switch. This year we are adding an option which changes the 8’ cables to 25’ of cable. There is an add on charge for the longer cable primarily because we needed to change the cables to a heavier cable to handle the additional length. It also has a shorter cable to be wired into the transformer. A center rail power tap lead is also supplied that you can use if you wish.
Complete wiring and installation instructions are included for a wide variety of switches. As always we are available for after the sale support should you need it.
How they work: each control will work with 2 switches. The operation is very simple, simply select by pushing one of the toggle switches to either the red (curved) or (green to go straight) LED. Then push the large “action switch” and the switches will turn to your desired direction. If you only changed one switch the other is not affected.The controller will remember its settings after power down.
These controllers come in 2 versions that can be identified by the color of the large center push button:
GREEN BUTTON CONTROLLER
This controller is for the O22 style switches and or any switch that originally had either LED bulbs or red and green light bulbs on the remote control to indicate the direction the switch is turned. If you are not sure which controller to order, feel free to email (tinman@tinman3rail.com) or call 262-914-0057. Please have the model no of the switches you wish to use the controllers with when emailing or calling. Let us know if you are using with Lionel O22 switches and we will provide two advanced power plugs (also known as bootstraps) for each green button controller at no additional charge.
K line produced a deluxe line of both O and O27 switches that also had the large green and red light bulbs on the remotes. Those switches can be identified by the number of screw down wire terminals. If it had 3 screw downs for wire attachments, the RED button controller will work properly. If they have 4 or 5 screw down wire attachments, the switches will require the GREEN button controller.
We also have available advanced power plugs which replace the original “bootstraps” from Lionel. These new power plugs not only provide accessory power for the switches, but also a power tap control for the center rail.
Rob Nelson RED BUTTON CONTROLLER WITH CD CIRCUIT BUILT IN
A little history. The toy manufacturers have produced switches for their trains for close to 100 years. They like many other businesses made engineering decisions based on marketing choices. For example, Lionel decided that the O gauge products should have (in their days) the most advanced and user friendly switch controls. The O27 switches were not included, why? Because they wanted to show added value for the O gauge products which just so happened were significantly more expensive then the O27 line. Other manufacturers followed suite, except in their case, many of them only produced the O27 lines, and had to keep their selling prices competitive with Lionel. note: if your switches came with remote controls that came with red and green light bulbs, (for example K line made some this way and can be identified by having 4 or 5 screw downs on the switches) Then you will need the green button controller. Not sure give us a call with the model number of your switches.
This controller will fill the bill for all the other remote control switches made, and example of some of them are:
Not shown are the American flyer, and some models of Marx and Ives remote control switches.
These controllers look exactly the same as our “red button” controller except include a CD (capacitor discharge) circuit built into the controllers which stops the switch buzzing on modified O27 switches. For a complete explanation check out our tech tip for this item.
For the purists, Lionel’s original flip lever controls, with a few modern improvements.
We recognize that there are folks that prefer the original Lionel flip lever switches. So we offer this original switch control, with a few minor improvements. The old style screw in bulbs are replaced with modern LED’s. The cords are changed to 8’ no rot cable, and a shorter cable that is wired to the transformer. This cable provides both accessory power to the switches, and a center rail tap wire. Each control will come with our special power plug for the switch.
Our Latest control: this unit has 2 additional toggle (push on and push off, like a light switch) push buttons.
These switches are to provide power to a spur track that normally would be attached to a switch. What is a spur track? it is a length of track that terminates with a bumper, and is used to park extra cars and or engines. The way it works is you install a fiber spacer at the point of the switch and the spur track in the center rail. This makes sure your track power is not going to the spur, and causing collisions.
The only catch is you need power to the spur track to drive the engines onto the track. that is what the yellow or blue push buttons do. Push the button and power is sent to the spur track, and lights up the switch. Push it again and it shuts off the power to the spur track.
These really cool controls are available in both Green and Red button versions, again not sure what you need? Give us a call at 262-914-0057 or Email us Send Mail
In with the new for O or O27 remote control uncouple/ unload tracks
This new remote control track controller is designed to replace the original 2 orange button controls, which may have been brilliant in 1930, simply did not work dependably, and was not designed for a lot of the newer toys Lionel came out with.
This new controller will operate 2 remote control uncoupler/unloader tracks. The two center toggle switches are the primary control for the tracks. When pointed to the large momentary (push buttons on the left, work like a doorbell push button) pushing one or both of the buttons will activate The uncoupler portion of the track for as long as you hold the button down. If you flip the toggle (a switch like an on/off light switch) towards the extra-large LED, the unload feature of the track will be turned on and stay on till you flip the switch again.
The tracks that these controllers work with draw a great deal of current. Our standrad cable that come with the 8ft option works just fine. We have found with cable lengths over 8ft the tracks do not work properly. That is why we offer the 25ft option with a much heavier cable. That could work up to 75 feet away.
REMOTE FLASHER CONTROL FOR CROSSING LIGHTS ETC.
This adjustable control is designed to provide timed power sources for operating crossing signals, beacons devices that you would like to flash. The little hole in the top will give you a means of adjusting the on off timming to longer or shorter. This unit is designed to be activated by insulated track or insulated tracks. The design of this device can potentially handle up to 100 led lights or 12 regular bulbs.
The picture below is an example of the kinds of things that can be used with this device.
