Replacing a broken switch

When you buy your track and switches used, you take the risk that they might be damaged. Sadly, one of the switches I purchased was broken but I didn't realize it until it was too late. It looked fine and operated okay when I moved the points by hand with my finger. It was only when I tried to install a ground throw that I realized the problem... the mounting holes where the throwbar attached to the point rails were worn so bad that the point rails slopped around. If I used my finger to push them back and forth they traveled all the way and it was fine, but the caboose industries ground throw didn't push them far enough. I could have rigged some sort of mechanism to try and work around this but instead I did the right thing and just replaced the switch entirely.

I first cut the wires from under the layout that connected to the switch. I tried to pry up just the switch with a putty knife and it started to come free, but suddenly I heard a "schlerup" noise and it popped off the layout taking the wooden tiles and cork roadbed with it. 

It was a simple matter to lay new roadbed and wooden blocks at the benchwork joints, followed by a coat of gray paint.

Finally, the new switch was trimmed to match the specific space vacated by the previous one and installed. Wiring was easier as the replacement already had factory-installed jumper wires underneath connecting all of the smaller pieces of rail. So only one feeder had to be dropped from the two inner rails on the right.

In the future, I will be more careful in my inspection of used switches before installation.