A pair of ControlIt PCB Sleepers for 009 Scale

ControlIt 009 Scale Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Sleepers are designed to hold rails in place when crossing baseboard joins, lift up or lift out sections, turntables, traversers, storage cassettes, or anywhere that requires a reliable rail alignment wherever there is a track separation. The sleepers are ideal for securing track on FreeM009 modular modelling standard module ends.

Individual solder points for the rails represent sleeper plates as used on the prototype. The rails are electrically isolated and the top finish applied to the boards restricts solder to the sleeper plate areas, resulting in a neat and durable track join.

To use the PCB Sleepers:

Remove the plastic sleepers from your track and insert the PCB sleepers in their place under the rails on either side of the join

Place the track over the join and solder the rails to the PCB solder points

The PCB Sleepers can be held in place with glue, a 2-part epoxy (Araldite et cetera) is recommended for a strong bond

Once installed the rails are cut across the join between the pair of 009 Scale PCB sleepers

The sleepers can be painted after installation

On curved track the sleepers can be used as-is, or for accurate sleeper alignment they can be cut and soldered to the rail separately to suit the radius. A cutoff disk in a motor tool can be used to cut the webbing between sleepers.

The sleeper plate areas on the PCB sleepers may also be used to connect wires for track power. The solder points for each rail are electrically joined on the board so any area may be used.