Piko G-Scale turnout with an electric switch and a lantern

Unlike in Westeros, in Poland the spring is coming. So it's time to make some serious preparations for the new G-Scale season. I've decided to finally try electric control of my - not yet installed - Piko turnouts.

The elements I will be connecting together are:

• Piko 35221 turnout
• Piko 35271 electric switch
• Piko 35266 lantern

Here's the set:

Let's start with the electric switch. It comes in a bag that contains the switch itself, two screws and a one page manual.

The lantern package is similar. We get the lantern, one screw, a manual and an extra lantern cap for opposite direction turnout.

The manual suggests to remove the spring from the turnout. And that's what I'm doing. It's a very easy operation. Actually as soon as the cap is out, the spring may jump out by itself. That's what happened in my case.

Update:
My further tests show that removing the spring is not necessarily required. My switch seems to work fine with this element still installed. And keeping the spring makes the turnout more stable in terms of keeping the point rails in place.

A little bit of planning now. I guess this is how it will go. Lantern on the left, the electric switch in the middle and then the turnout on the right.

First the lantern. It needs to be opened and then we're supposed to push it into the switch until it "clicks". Easy. One screw holds the two items together.

When closing the lantern, we're expected to pay attention to the position of a spring element. That's what the manual says. But my unit does not have any spring. So it's either missing or the manual is not up-to-date. I'm continuing without the spring.

Time to connect the wires. This requires opening the electric switch in two places. One is the entrance for the cabling, the other exposes the screws of an electric terminal.

The wires are connected now. The small element in the middle is made of rubber. I guess this is what makes the entire system water-proof. It's definitely sitting tight on the cables.

This is the moment I've realized I actually wanted the switch to be placed on the other side of the turnout. So I disassemble everything and connect again. Two screws hold the switch and the turnout together.

The lantern needs a separate power source. I guess I will just connect it to the track on my layout. For testing purposes however, I'm using an extra DC power supply.

It works right away. This is what the complete set looks like in a well lit environment:


And here in a slightly darker setting:


I've also made a short movie showing the switching process:

All in all a very painless installation. Maybe except for the missing spring. I still wonder whether it should be there or not. I guess I'll know when I buy another lantern...