Kato Unitrack turnouts?

[thedowneaster]

Hi,
I heard a rumor that Kato unitrack turnouts have polarity-driven stall motors (like tortoise)....Meaning that you can give the turnout 12v dc constantly, and simply swap the polarity to switch the points.

Is this true?

I would like to use DPDT relays in my staging yard to align the turnouts to only the electrified tracks. This would simplify my set up!

 

[thedowneaster]

Answered my own question...
No, they are not stall motors. The only difference between these and the atlas snap switch is this: Kato runs DC and Atlas runs AC.

To make my project work I will be trying out the "switch tender" by Micro-Mark. They claim it works just like the tortoise, but only it costs $15.

My staging tracks are all "drive-thru" type tracks... When I decide to operate a train from the staging yard, the train's entire track will be electrified. In doing this, the coil of a relay will also be electrified and will flip the DC polarity of the switch tender to move the points toward the active siding.

For now, I will only mechanize the inlet side of the staging, leaving the outlet points free to slip through. Perhaps in the future I will want to be able to operate in either direction on the "south" and "north" bound track.