Layout 2025 - Tricky M-Track Turnouts and Power Circuits

My son has started a layout and all wires are not hidden. As the layout is on the ground of his bedroom .

Setting those trafo’s in phase was new to me. Did you do the same for the light trafo’s? Also the common ground?

Another pain point for turn out. When you have rust inside the solenoide. You have to dismantle the moving rod and both soleniude. Given the price of 2nd hand turn outs, better to throw them away and buy other. Another point : the oiled translucid paper in the lantern. How to replace them ?

Nice and informative video

😎👍👍👍👍👍💚

Some people like to force turnouts and break the mechanism 😟

I am surprised at the amount of parts still made for Piko, Fleischmann, Lima, and Marklin, and the like Including the troubling tiny piko coupling springs

Thanks for the video, I need to check my switches for some of the potential issues you showed...

Very informative and entertaining at the same time as always, thank you very much! In German language it is even easier to remember which connector needs what color: green (grün) equals to "gerade" and in the same way as in English red equals to "rund".

Thanks again. I love all the details. I am familiar with most of them but every so often, you say something new to me. We always used a small piece of paper to isolate the track sections.

I do understand the reason why you do not condone the commitment to hiding wiring. But that said, my OCD wished to thank you very much for hiding a large portion of the wiring.

Also, I just want to say that your English is very much better than the considerable majority of people who have English as their first language, whereas I suspect that your own first language is French? It is comforting to listen to a video that isn't going to have my fingernails rip into the upholstery with regular grammatical assassinations.

Great video with lots of informative points. You know N, another way to improve solenoid functioning is (and I know outside of the era you collect) to use the old Marklin 280A transformer from the 50’s. It has a set of additional outputs for the old turnouts of that era that required more power to snap over. I’d have to put a meter on one to find out what its output is but is more than what subsequent transformers is. I have used the 280A with newer solenoid accessories and found it really snaps them over even at distances from the transformer. Sorry about your leak and keep up the outstanding work!

Layout coming along. I had similar problems with my m-track switch machines but I keep up on it and pretty much are trouble free.