Turnout won't throw
Benjamin | TrackDrawer.com · published 5 November 2026
If a turnout won't throw, the cause is almost always in one of four places: the blades can't move freely, the point motor is misaligned or worn, the point motor gets too little power, or on digital the decoder is listening to a different address from the one you send. Start at the turnout itself and work back towards the controls. What the turnout actually does (buzz, throw halfway, nothing) usually points the way.
First: what exactly does the turnout do?
Watch and listen while someone else presses the button. The symptom tells you a lot.
| What you see or hear | Likely cause | Where to look first |
|---|---|---|
| Nothing, no click, no buzz | no power at the point motor | wires, power supply, decoder |
| A click, but the blades don't move | blades jammed or motor loose | blades, ballast, mounting |
| The blades move halfway and fall back | not enough force | power supply, stiff mechanism |
| Throws in one direction only | one coil or one end contact faulty | point motor, wire to that side |
| Buzzes and gets warm | current stays on the coil | end-of-travel cut-off, button, control |
| Throws the wrong way | two wires swapped | wiring or command station setting |
| A different turnout responds | wrong address | address in decoder and command station |
The turnout itself: blades and ballast
Throw the turnout by hand, with the point motor disconnected if you can. If it is already stiff by hand, no point motor will fix it.
- Ballast and glue. A grain of ballast between blade and stock rail, or glued ballast under the blades, blocks the movement. Ballast turnouts sparingly and keep glue away from the blades and the pivot.
- Paint and dirt. Paint on the blades or in the pivot makes the turnout stiff. A blade that doesn't close against the stock rail will cause derailments later as well; that is covered in train derails at the turnout.
- Stress in the baseboard. A turnout screwed down too tightly on an uneven surface twists. The blades then bind in one position. Loosen the screws and see whether it moves freely again.
- The lever. Hand-operated turnouts often have a lever or a spring that holds the blades in their end position. If that spring is bent or the lever broken, the blades hang halfway.
The point motor
An electric point motor is usually a solenoid with two coils: a short pulse through one coil pulls the blades one way, a pulse through the other pulls them back. There are also slow-action motors that move the blades gradually.
- Mounting. A point motor that isn't quite square under or beside the turnout pushes at an angle and loses force. With motors under the baseboard, the actuating wire has to move freely through the hole in the board.
- End-of-travel cut-off. Many solenoid motors have an end-of-travel cut-off: a contact that switches the coil off as soon as the blades reach their end position. If that contact is dirty or bent, the turnout throws one way only, or current stays on the coil and it gets hot.
- Coil. A coil that has been left powered for a long time may have burnt out. The turnout then no longer throws in that direction, even with a good supply.
On Märklin C track you throw the turnouts by hand. You can fit the electric point motor 74491 afterwards, and it then disappears into the roadbed. Our catalogue lists the double slip 24624 with a built-in motor, and the three-way turnout 24630 needs two, one for each diverging route. A turnout with two motors can therefore half work: one side throws, the other doesn't. More on the three-way turnout in turnouts: left, right and symmetrical.
Power supply and wiring
A solenoid needs a short but strong pulse. If the supply is too weak, the blades move halfway and fall back.
- Too much at once. If you throw several turnouts at the same time from the same transformer, the voltage drops. Test the turnout on its own.
- Long, thin wires. Over a long run a thin wire loses voltage. Use heavier wire for distant turnouts, or a separate supply closer by.
- Loose contacts. A plug that isn't fully seated or a loose terminal screw gives a turnout that sometimes throws and sometimes doesn't. Tug each wire: whatever comes loose wasn't secure.
- A capacitor discharge unit. On two-rail with solenoid motors, many modellers use a unit that charges a capacitor and dumps it through the coil in one go. That gives a strong, short pulse, even from a modest supply.
Don't hold the button down. A solenoid coil is made for a short pulse. If the current stays on, it gets hot and fails, unless the motor has a working end-of-travel cut-off.
Digital: decoder, address and protocol
On digital the command station sends a command to an accessory decoder, and the decoder gives the point motor its pulse. If the turnout won't throw, go through these points.
- Is the decoder powered? An accessory decoder usually takes its supply from the track or from a separate connection. Without power it does nothing, even with the right address.
- Is the address right? The command station and the decoder must use the same address. A decoder with several outputs has an address per output; count which output belongs to which turnout.
- Does your command station count differently? Not every command station numbers accessory addresses the same way. If a different turnout responds, or something a few addresses further on, check in your command station's manual how it counts.
- The same protocol? Decoder and command station must speak the same digital protocol. A decoder set to a different protocol does not hear the command.
- Does it throw the wrong way? Then the two control wires are swapped. Swap them back, or invert the setting in the command station.
If the turnout works with a loose test wire straight from the supply but not through the decoder, the problem is in the decoder, the address or the wiring to it.
How TrackDrawer helps
With TrackDrawer's digital layer (Pro) you automatically assign what is in your stock: a point motor per turnout, outputs on accessory decoders with ascending addresses, and contact tracks on feedback modules. The wiring diagram numbers your turnouts W1, W2 and so on and shows the address and the turnout for each decoder output, with the wire colours yellow, blue, blue for C track. If a point motor or decoder is missing, it is listed under shortages. So when a turnout won't throw, you know at once which address to check. The components in the catalogue are those for Märklin C track, such as the m83 accessory decoder 60832 with four outputs and the built-in decoder 74461 with one.
Frequently asked questions
Why does my turnout only throw if I hold the button down?
Then the point motor gets too little force per pulse, from a weak supply, a long thin wire or a stiff turnout. Holding the button helps for a while but strains the coil. Look for the cause in the supply or the mechanism.
Do I need to replace an old turnout that no longer throws?
Usually not. Cleaning, realigning the point motor or securing a loose wire is often enough. How to check old track and turnouts is covered in give your old box of track a second life.
Enter your track and digital components in the app; after the automatic assignment, the wiring diagram tells you which turnout sits on which address.
