Gaugemaster Surface Mount Point Motors

[Butler]

Hi

having had enormous trouble trying in vain to find some Peco PL 11 surface point motors, like a lot of Peco stuff , to finish my layout, I managed to obtain some Gaugemaster equivalents. What a big mistake! Despite the fact that they claim to fit all proprietry  makes of track,  they do not! I am using Peco finescale code 75 track and points. Firstly, the connecting lug designed to fit over the points operating lug, is a tad too high for Peco 75, even on a completely flat surface, with a tendency to slip off. The mounting hole on the points motor is about .25 mm too big, for Peco, not a lot you may say, but enough to allow a fair bit of free play, making it difficult to fit it exactly in the correct position. But the biggest problem is that they do not fit in the gap between 2 parallel tracks, set at the correct spacing, using Peco track gauge. You have to cut away sleepers from the opposite track to fit them, and then I found the trains were hitting the motor on this track even on the straight! The operating lever also, Presumbly designed to ride over the opposite sleeper, sometimes catches on it.

Not all bad, as the reversible power connector is great, to reverse the point direction, if needed or orientated wrong. But I’ve spent hours on a very simple job. I’ve added just a drop of glue to help hold the point motors on the lug, hopefully.

Any comments

B

Edited March 13, 2021 by Butler