Hi, I am setting up my first layout. I constructed a table (3x5), built about 12 buildings and have a good idea on how I want the track to look. I’m wanting to do modular sections, about five, with a streetcar theme, where the streetcars will run between them. I also want to incorporate a train that will travel around the the modules also. I have many many questions but the one I really want to know about now is turnouts on the streetcar section. I want to be able to have the streetcars travel different routes and so I will need to be able to switch them when I want to. How do you “hide” the controls for the turnouts? Do you use under the table ones? I have seen ones that are automatic and throw the switch at a slow pace, I think it’s called a turtle. What suggestions do you all have for this. Thanks!!
Hi, Bill,
[#welcome] to the forum! The best way to hide turnout controls is, as you said, to use under-the-table type controls.
The slow-motion switch machines you are talking about are called “Tortise” machines, and they are manufactured by Circutron. They’re kind of pricey, and about the cheapest place I’ve seen to get them is a hobby shop online that sells them for something like $12 or $13 each. For the life of me, though, I can’t find the link [:(] Maybe someone else knows the site and will post it.
A less expensive under-the-table option is to use the Atlas or Peco brand solenoid switch machines. The main disadvantage of these types is that they don’t continuously hold the point rails solidly against the stock rails (Tortoises do), so your trains might “pick” the points heading into the turnout.
An even cheaper way would be to use a slide switch, some music wire, and a coat hanger to make a contraption similar to the one on this website:
http://www.reganspace.com/Trains/index_train.html
Click on “Details” then scroll down past the decoder install for “manual turnout controls”
I am in the process of making manual controls with DPDT switches, similar to the setup I linked to above. I’ve used switches and coat hangers before in a slightly different arrangement, and this method seems to work fine. They also hold the point rails firmly against the stock rails.
Good luck!
PS - one more thing I forgot - if you get turnouts with spring-loaded points, such as Peco, then you could get by without any turnout controls at all. You can switch the points with your fingers, and the spring will hold them firmly against the stock rails.
One of your options if you want the streetcars to run the same route but in different directions is a spring switch. This switch acts as a normal straight track on one direction of travel but uses a spring to open the points in the other direction of travel. These were pretty common on streetcar lines that used a diverging route in only one direction of travel.
If you need to control a normal turnout, you can have a manual control, which is covered by a metal plate in the pavement or an under the table switch machine. This can be anything from an Atlas undertable machine, which is fairly inexpensive, to the Tortise slow motion switch machine, which run about $17.00 each. Both types do the same thing but the Tortise machine looks more realistic to a viewer because the points move slowly instead of snapping into place ike an Atlas switch machine does.
If your layout is small and your street cars do mostly street running, I’d try the manual control with the plate covering it in the street. This is the most prototypical because street running required a brakeman or conductor to get down on the street and throw a switch manually.
Hwere are some links to Tortoise Slow Motion Switch Machines
http://www.loystoys.com/circuitron/tortoise.html
http://www.gadgettom.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=CIR6000&Category_Code=CT
http://www.greenwayproducts.com/buy_tortoise.shtml
http://www.dccsupplies.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=283
http://www.tracksidesales.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=TS&Category_Code=CIRSW
Best I can do for you.
Details of your table construction might make one option better than another. For example, the Atlas under-table machine has a throw-rod (the part that connects the machine to the turnout) which is only 1 inch long. It’s exactly right for a 3/4-inch thick piece of plywood with a strip of roadbed. You can cut it down if your plywood base in thinner, but once you’ve got a thicker base, these machines won’t work well at all.
The Peco machines mount directly to the bottom of Peco turnouts, and they’re about an inch deep. So, you need to cut out a slot below the turnout, which leaves a hole which must be covered with some sort of protective sheet before ballasting. (Not a big deal. I use cardboard.) In plywood, cutting the smal hole might be a bit of a challenge for some. It’s a piece of cake on foam.
A Tortoise, I believe, only needs a narrow slot for the throw-rod, and the unit is designed to work through a thick base.
You also need to consider the brand of turnouts you’re using. Peco turnouts and Peco switch machines are made for each other. Neither will work very well with other manufacturers, because the Peco spring mechanism is unique. You can use a Tortoise with a Peco turnout, but you need to remove the spring mechanism before mounting the turnout.