Mainline Railways was a British model railway brand that operated between 1976 and 1983, introduced by Palitoy, the...
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When and why would a railway modeller use a reed switch?
As a modeller, but not necessarily an electrician, you may have read many 'how to' articles advising the use of a reed switch, but also wondered what they are and what they do.
The quickest way to understand a reed switch is to forget about the 'reed' part to leave you with the simple description 'switch'. When you think of a reed switch in that way, what you can do with one becomes clear - You can use it to turn stuff on or off!
Of course, there are different types of switches, and a reed switch is best described as a 'push to make' switch that's activated by a magnet rather than a finger.
The fact that a reed switch is activated by a magnet gives it huge potential to automate virtually anything on a layout. Attach a magnet to the bottom of your train and every time that train passes a track-mounted reed switch, it will be activated.
If you require a reed switch to permanently switch something, as opposed to sending a short burst of power as the train passes, that too is possible with the use of a relay.
With that in mind, the answer to the original question is that reed switches are used by railway modellers to automate components or accessories by the passing of a train.
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