When, as a kid, I was mucking around with my TT-scale setup, there were precisely two kinds of points (or turnouts) you could buy: manual, and motorised. The motorised points were strictly surface-mounted, there was nothing else, at least not in that scale and from the available suppliers. A lot has changed in that respect, even in TT.1
When I bought my current setup, I didn’t look at motorising the points just yet. I didn’t know what the options were and how to best go about it. After playing around with the tracks and layout for a few weeks, however, I started feeling the need to remotely control those turnouts. So I looked at options. Which are somewhat limited where I live – availability of smaller brands is not very good, and shipping in things from overseas can get very expensive.
Many people seem to prefer motors that are mounted below the track or the baseboard. It also seems a better option if you want to get one type of motor and make it work with different types of points. Many options are available there depending on where you live. But since I hadn’t finalised my layout yet, I wasn’t about to cut comparatively large holes into my baseboard (also, I don’t trust my abilities to cut with the precision these motors seem to require). So I decided to use surface-mounted motors for the time being.
Due to the titular naïveté of this blog, I ended up buying Track Mix on my initial haul. This means I also ended up with two makes of points: Peco and Hornby. Technically I have four different points: one Hornby R8072 and one Peco ST241 (left-hand points), one Hornby 8073 and one Peco ST240 (right-hand points). It became pretty clear from some research that if I wanted to go with surface-mounted motors, I would not be able to get a one-size-fits-all option.
So I started with the Hornby points, and bought two R8243 point motors (and a R8247 accessory decoder for good measure). After building my table top, I laid the double oval, and hooked up both Hornby points, which were at opposite sides of the layout. So far, so good. Next, after reading about some potential issues with the Peco motors in combination with a Hornby accessory decoder, I decided to play it (reasonably) safe, and got one PL-11. My worries were unfounded – properly wired up, the Peco motor works just fine with my decoder.
So, how do these two stack up against each other?
The R8247 comes out of the box with its three wires protruding from the side, and a pair of screws used to fix it to the baseboard. Aside from a small piece of paper with instructions that are only semi-helpful if used with an accessory decoder, that’s it. The motor is just under 5cm long and 18mm wide. Compare that to the PL-11, which is about a cm longer, but almost half as wide (1cm, but with protruding legs) and high (5mm vs 9mm) than the Hornby. Its wires protrude from the end, the box contains the instruction sheet, a riser for use with track bed, and a set of locating arms which are suitable for most Peco points. What’s missing is – curiously – any means to fix the motor to the baseboard, there are no screws or pins in the packaging.
Which isn’t too much of an issue. The inclusion of the locating arms means that the PL-11 can be lined up precisely with the point, provided it’s compatible (most Code 100 points should be). They also clip in fairly tight, which is enough to test the motor. Any pins with shanks thinner than 1mm will suffice to put the PL-11 in its place. The 8243 is more fiddly. It needs to be lined up with the point exactly, tested, and then fixed to the baseboard. Being even a millimetre off can cause the motor to fail sporadically, and once the screw holes are in the baseboard, it’s hard to correct. In this sense, the Peco motor is more well-thought-out.
Both motors use green, red and black wires, but there is a key difference that may not be immediately clear to newbies from the instruction sheets. Especially the Hornby sheet is very sparse on detail. While Hornby use the black wire for the common return and the red and green for positive and negative, Peco use the green wire as the common return. A key detail that, when known, can save a lot of tinkering. Both instruction sheets use a wiring example with a manual switch and a CDU, none mention how to work with an accessory decoder. Again, seasoned railway modellers won’t find this to be an issue, but for a newbie it can be confusing.
So how well do they work when they’re all wired up? The PL-11 has a very satisfying, snappy action that throws the switch without fail. The fact that it’s easily and reliably lined up certainly helps. In comparison, the action on the 8243 feels a bit weak, with the drive link being flimsier, too. One of my two 8243 motors is slightly misaligned, and at times fails to throw the point at all. Since my layout isn’t finalised, that doesn’t bother me too much at the moment. The pegs on the throw bar of the Peco points are bigger than on the Hornby ones, which means that at least in theory, a PL-11 could be used with a Hornby point, although it certainly wouldn’t look as good, and might require some fiddling and adjusting to make it work reliably. However, there is no way you’d ever make an 8243 work with anything but a Hornby point.
Conclusions? While the shape of the 8243 is less obtrusive, I much prefer the PL-11. Its action feels more solid, and it’s a lot easier to line up and install. The layout I am considering calls for two right-hand and two left-hand points – exactly what I have. All I need to make everything work is one more PL-11 – but I am sorely tempted to chuck the Hornby points and motors on Ebay, and replace them all with Peco parts.
