High Resistance Track Switches

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February 10, 2015

Bucky asks readers:

“My Lionel switches have a low resistance (~13 Ohms) between the middle and side rails. The MTH switches have very high resistance. The switches work normally. Why is this? Thanks.”

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One Response to High Resistance Track Switches

Frank Bushnell says:

February 18, 2015 at 10:10 pm

I am not familiar with Lionel track, but this sounds strange.

This would mean that about 1 Amp would be continually drawn from a 12 Volt supply even with no locos on the track.

Are you measuring this resistance with the switch electrically isolated (completely disconnected) from everything else ? Is it the same if the switch is in either side position or central ?

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