Old KATO turnouts

[AhmadKane]

So I bought these for 5 bucks a piece. They were classified as junk. There were 4. Two of which had solenoid cables (Just the rod a bit off). Two do not have cables but the switching are ok. 

 

 

 

1. Anyone know how to open these plates? There seem to be a bolt in the middle holding it in from the tracks. 

2. Are the solenoid switch cables installable? Or do non cabled turnouts exist in the KATO range?

 

Thank you very much.

[Welshbloke]

I'd start by undoing that screw and see if the plate lifts off. I've not had this type apart but I have taken the baseplate off the R481 type to fix a lazy spring.

 

These always have a hard-wired cable AFAIK, other Kato turnouts have a plug in one. You can buy those as spares and cut the turnout end plug off or cut the socket off a turnout extension lead, then solder the resulting bare wires to the circuit board inside the roadbed/ballast. If you go for the latter then leave a couple of centimetres of wire on the socket so you can reuse it, they're useful for homebrew controllers and other twiddling. I did that for a turnout which had lost its plug, ending up with an extra long cable and a spare socket which I used in a battery powered controller.

 

Open an unmolested one too to check the polarity and where the solder pads are, or you may end up with a turnout which throws backwards compared to the rest.