Build an ‘O’ gauge signal
Chris Gadsby discovers that just a handful of tools, a clear weekend and some basic problem-solving skills are all you need to construct this latest Routemex signal kit
Chris Gadsby builds a Routemex ‘O’ gauge signal module in a weekend.
Everything surrounding model railways has improved dramatically over the last decade, and anyone who has been regularly reading Model Rail over the past three years will know that there is nothing I love more than a good kit. One of my mantras is to show that you don’t have to have all of the latest gizmos and gadgets to build a great kit and a great model railway. When Routemex contacted us to say that it had produced a new ‘mix and match’ signal kit in
‘O’ gauge, I jumped at the chance to put it together and see how easy it would be to add to your layout.
As the use of circuit boards has become even more prevalent on layouts around the world, and numerous companies have taken advantage of this, signals are one of the areas which has improved the most. It wasn’t that long ago in the grand scheme of things that the lights on model signals were nothing more than a blob of red paint, and now we have products which can not only change automatically but control your trains as well.
The Routemex offering doesn’t do this, however there’s no reason you couldn’t add a circuit board to control it automatically if you wanted to. Bear in mind though that with more automation there’s more to go wrong. What Routemex’s offering does allow you to do is change the aspects of the signal with the flick of a switch and gives you the option of lighting the route indicator as well. Additionally, if you were to use a four-way rotary switch with your signals, you could wire several to the same switch and light them in the correct sequence without having to manually change each one.
I was able to build this kit over a couple of days with minimal tools, my only expenses being the kit itself and the recommended adhesives from Deluxe Materials, of which I have plenty left for other projects. There were some challenging aspects but nothing overwhelming that would put you off building this kit. I just have to find a permanent home for it now!