OK, this has driven me nuts long enough.
Caboose Industries makes a travel sprung ground throw and a travel rigid ground throw.
I have several sprung ground throws on my layout, but what is a rigid ground throw and when and why would you use one?
Please save my sanity and explain.
Rich
Ok I am now interested as well.
I have been thinking about adding caboose ground throws to my layout and didn’t know there were “two types”???
I though you bought caboose ground throws and attached and that was it…the hardest thing being getting the points tight against the rail and glued down to stay on foam??
Can someone explain the difference to me as well??
The OP has sprung ones, should one stick with those or are the unsprung ones better?
Just go to their web site for explanation. http://www.cabooseind.com/index2.php?page=BasicInfo
Have fun!
Bob
OK, the ‘sprung’ ones have a built-in sping so they can over-travel and keep the points tight against the stock rails. Most folks use this type.
The ‘rigid’ ones have no internal spring. Either the point travel needs to be exactly the same(not too likely), or you will need to bend an ‘omega’ spring into your linkage so that you have sprung over-travel. Just by the ‘S’ versions with the internal spring - I have over 40 of them on my layout!
Jim
Which begs the question, why would anyone want to install a travel rigid ground throw.
Rich
Bob, I took your advice and went to the web site via your link, and I’ll be darned. I never saw that page on the web site.
Here is their discussion verbatim:
Caboose Industries manufactures manual switch stands. There are two basic types, the 100R series rigid stands, and the 200S series sprung stands. An example is the 101R and the 202S are from the same mold and look exactly alike. The only way to tell them apart is to push on what we call the slidebar or the bar that moves. If there is no spring action, it is the 101R.
The rigid stands are full functioning stands that require the hobbyist to supply some sort of a spring link between our switch stand slidebar and the turnout throwbar. This stand is recommended when the switch stand must be mounted a distance from the turnout. Normally a
Peco switches have a built in spring, Atlas do not. Thus a rigid for Peco and a sprung for Atlas. Don’t know about other brands.
Good luck,
The club modular layout has plenty of rigid ones on Atlas turnouts. The one model of rigid throw was engineered to have the same throw as an Atlas turnout, and works fine. There’s no particular ‘rule’ to use one vs the other , other than the throw distance.
–Randy
I have about 7 of them and I think they are all rigid models. I didn’t realize there were different ones either. The rigid ones work fine on my Atlas and Peco turnouts. I haven’t tried them on my Walthers/Shinohara ones yet.
Bob
Of the 360+ turnouts on my current layout I have quite a number of them using the RIDGED (R) version of the Caboose turnout Throws.
I mount all of my Caboose Throws at the edge of the layout so my operators do NOT have to reach into the scenery to throw the switch.
Quite a number of the linkages are fairly long and are prone to flexing a bit - so I install the Caboose Ind throws with the longer throw length than normal.
These compensate for the flexing of the throw wire that I use and the Spring versions of the throws allow too much movement to provide the proper tension on the points that I require.
I use these on any turnout needing them (Shinohara, Walthers or Atlas)!
BOB H - Clarion, PA
Do you conceal the wire ?
richhotrain
On some of the turnouts I have drilled through the Homasote with long drills. Then I cut a hole to bring the wire up next to the throw bar.
As for the wire - I use Mechanics wire (available at Auto Parts stores) which as fairly soft and it allows for easy bending but is not as stiff as Music wire (this is where the extra spring action comes from when using the Ridgid Throws).
Others - I have just covered the wire with Plastruct - Half-Round plastic - glued to the Homasote (I use DUCO cement - in the Green Tube). The glue seals the plastic to the Homasote and the scenery glue will not seep under the plastic and glue the wire down!
I then just cover over the plastic with scenery material and it blends right into the scenery.
I also put the wire through a coffee straw/sturrer and have drilled under the track through the cork roadbed. I also have drilled through the plastic ties very close to the underside of the rails.
The plastic straw keeps the wire from shorting the track!
As for the wires coming up next to the throw bars or the Ground Throw - I just glue a piece of clump foliage so I can not see the wire or turnout throw bar and at the end of the ground throw.
I am not worried too much about the edge of the layout looks as OPERATIONS is FIRST Priority on my layout.
Most of the time when taking pictures I just shoot over the tops of the ground throws anyway!
BOB H - Clarion, PA