extended pin
Bruce,
I used both. If the track is laid straight on the baseboard, then I have mounted the turnout motor
under the baseboard, with the extended pin. (had to cut a bit off, but that's OK). If the track is on elevated on risers, then I used the turnout motor mounted directly on the turnout with the lugs and holes. Doing it this way, of course, mounts the motor better and more accurate than a "guess" where to drill the mounting holes, but also burys it under the track, without access, unless I rip the track/ballast/risers up. I suppose I could drill a 15cm hole under the spot, through the baseboard, so I can get my clumsy fingers up there, incase of a burnout, but that is the risk I took. I've not had a burnout yet. They seem pretty robust. even 5 - 7 secs of continous 17V AC (done accidentally) didn't do any damage to them.
When mounting
under the baseboard, ensure you mount them corectly, with the turnout rails held "centrally" so the pin can be mounted "centrally" with the motor as well. Pretty tricky at first, but you'll get the hang of it.
Ensuring the turnout is "perpendicular" to the track is a bit tricky too, when mounting
under the baseboard, as you have no point of reference as to the exact direction of the track, so you can mount the motor appropriately. Be sure to drill the hole through the baseboard
before fixing the turnout down. I used a 1/2" hole to allow enough movement of the pin from side to side. Be carefull when ballasting you turnouts too. The ballast can go down the hole and jam in the turnout motor. I have now learned to place a piece of thin paper between the turnout and baseboard/motor before fixing them down. The motor will then make just enough of a hole for itself (when switched). The hole it makes is not big enough for ballast to fall down into the turnout motor.
The "throw" of the turnout motor is more than is needed to "throw" the turnout, and because of the "swivel" of the motor pin, it does allow a bit of flexibility/inaccuracy when mounting under the baseboard, but the more accurate the better. I have a couple of turnouts (with underboard motors) that give a great thump in one direction (so much so, that they "bounce back" sometimes), and only just enough "throw" in the other direction, because of "inaccurate" mounting.
BTW. I can only get enough current out of my controller (17V AC 1.6 AMPS) to throw no more than 3 turnouts at once. Anymore, and there's not enough current to throw the turnout motors. I have a double crossover on my layout (using 4 turnouts and a diamond crossing) and wanted "straight through" or "crossover" mode on the flick of a single switch. I've had to settle for two switches with 2 of the turnouts on each.
Those 4 turnout motors are buried under the risers, so even if one of them blows, I've gotta rip the whole lot up. 4 ballasted and stuck down turnouts could be expensive to replace, should even one of the motors blow!!!
