For reference books and articles relating to these pages, see our bibliography
Are you getting tired of looking at trains? Try the Mad Toy Collector's exhibition, or visit The Heraldry Guy!
Searching for a particular topic in these pages? Try our subject index (updated continually)
It's all being made into a serialized movie! Click here to watch the movie episodes!
Go to the Next Plate Go to the Previous Plate Go to the Numerical Plate Directory

Plate 102:  Close-up view of a surface-mounted Hornby R8014 Point Motor (arm retracted)
(This plate added OCT 2003)

This is a view of a Hornby R8014 Point Motor standing upon a base plate. When you purchase a point motor, you do not automatically receive a base plate; the base plate is part of the Hornby R8015 Point Motor Housing , which includes a scale-model trackside hut. The R8015 unit must be purchased separately, because it is not always required. For example, when a point motor is installed under a point (beneath the roadbed), it is not absolutely necessary to use a base plate.

--more--
When you surface-mount a point motor (which really means that the motor is installed alongside a point above the roadbed), you should obtain the R8015 base plate. This is because the R8015 is not merely a foundation upon which the surface-mounted motor rests; the R8015 base plate also provides a sliding-arm mechanism, which connects the point motor to the moving parts of the point.

The sliding arm of the R8015 base plate can be seen in this view, silhouetted against the plywood roadbed, between the base plate and the point. The sliding arm is in the retracted position, and accordingly has pulled the moving rails of the point to the straight side of the point. When the moving rails are pulled to the straight side, a train entering the point (from the lower left in this view) will be guided to the curved side of the point.

Go to top of page