I was wondering about G scale & you answered my question about it. Thanks.

I was helping out an guy who got into the deep end of the model rail pool doing a layout for a multi-millionaire, and was learning as he went. One day, the little hidden spring in one of the soldered-in, ballasted, and motored Peco switches broke as we were testing the track to the container terminal. In response to his deflated "Oh, no-o-o..." I grabbed a piece of light piano wire, a tiny drill in a pin vise, and tapped a replacement - as seen above - into the throw bar and a tie: Click. Clack. You should have seen his face! It's a nice trick to have in your back pocket!

@@carmium That's interesting, because I was under the impression that when you added a motor drive, like a Tortoise or even something like a bullfrog, you want to pull out the spring anyways. That's what I've done with my N scale turnouts. Nice story! Clutch, because regardless, it seems something wasn't working right, and then suddenly was.

@@andrewlaverghetta715 Peco Motors are a simple double coil solenoid, and don't have any mechanism to hold the points over to either side, so they continue to rely on the tiny built-in spring.

I expect you want to have the wire to rotate freely (hence also the loose fit in the hole mentioned)

Yes that's exactly what I was thinking. You'll need a small spring void in the track bed into which the spring can sit and than all you have on the surface are a couple of almost flush cut spring ends.

Since the spring is working against the center line of the switchpoints and the switchpoint pivot, going outside the rails would probably be a problem. But what the heck!! Give it a try!

In theory it should work fine either way, as long as the spring ends are in line parallel to the track centerline when the switch points are centered. That way the spring is at its highest compression when both its ends are in line with the center and wants to push the free end away from the centerline. The stock rails prevent the switch points from traveling any farther, so they lock into place on either side of center. Brilliant idea.

@James Smith This doesnt work on every switch out there. It will not work with plastik ties, with rails that are nailed on the ties. To work properly it needs very hard ties, and they MUST be fixed to the rails - soldered or - maybe - glued with some kind of superglue (but I believe, glueing isnt strong enough). The u-wire works as a spring here, pushing the two ties apart, thus pressing the rails to the one side or to the other. Plastic ties and many wooden ties wont withstand the pressure, they will bow - and the effect of the springing wire is lost. Same goes for rails that arent solidly fixed to the ties - the ties will wander under the pressure of the springing wire, therefore the effect of the spring is lost then too. Conclusion: This solution only works with switches that are build like the fast track switch in the video. All other switches - especially them with plastic ties - need a spring mechanism that doesnt apply the force of the spring to the switch itelf or its components.

Thanks l!

Pearly Humbucker not true. Did over 30 atlas switches this same way. Works fine

The spring ends when centered must be parallel to the track centerline. Too weak a spring won't apply enough pressure. Too strong a spring will deform the ties or rails. You only have half the distance from the point to the rail to play with to get the holes in the right places.