Say a certain modeler has spent a hockey sock full of money on locomotives over the past six months, and his (or her) most recent purchase was a rather costly set of handlaid track jigs and materials. So, this guy (or gal) gets to building some turnouts and, during quiet moments of soldering, realizes that he (or she) will have to actuate the points when they are installed.
Because this guy (gal) can’t spend another cent on anything remotely associated with model railroading until his birthday for fear of being emasculated (I mean neutered) with a rusty garden trowel, how would he contrive mechanical throws on the cheap…something that could be actuated from the layout edge or fascia?
This person probably could use some help. They would have to be fairly robust, and highly functional to the extent that they would do a good job holding the points firmly against the stock rails, etc.
Any ideas out there? I’ll, umm, pass them along to buddy.
Just take a deep breath. And another. And another. Just think, in a few more weeks you can get what you need. If you are like the rest of us, you have some kits (rolling stock or structures) socked away you can work on. Take a break! Don’t pressure your woman!
Recipe for a simple, inexpensive remote manual throw for hand-built turnouts.
Ingredients:
3/32" or 1/8" diameter metal tube, $.99 for 12 inches at the LHS. Old brass ball pen fillers are a suitable substitute.
Paper clips. If your roadbed is extremely thick, other springy wire may be used.
DPDT electrical switch - slide switch OK - plus bracket and attaching hardware.
10 pound test fishing leader.
Screw eyes, smallest you can find.
Weight material - fishing weights (overkill!), stripped automotive nuts or whatever.
At the turnout, drill a 3/32" or 1/8" hole about 1/2 inch away from the hole in the throwbar, all the way through your roadbed and subgrade. Line it with the metal tube. The tube should extend about 1/4" below the subroadbed.
Bend a straightened paper clip to fit downward through the hole in the throwbar (little short end) and the tube (the rest of it.) Under the roadbed, bend the paper clip right up against the bottom of the tube and parallel to the fascia. The direction of the under-the-table bend is determined by the ‘normal’ position of the turnout points - pushing the end of it away from the fascia should hold the points the way you usually want them to be. The bend at the bottom should be snug enough to keep the end of the paper clip from coming out of the hole in the throwbar, but not tight enough to bind.
The ‘operating lever’ at the fascia (actually in a niche in the fascia big enough to allow easy finger access) is an electrical switch, bracket-mounted to the fascia. You will need to drill a hole in the switch handle to attach the linkage.
With the handle of the switch positioned away from the aisle, fasten a length of fishing leader to the electrical switch and install screw eyes in your sub-roadbed to guide it to your previously installed paper clip. Attaching the leader (with a tiny bit of slack) will require some experimentation until you come up with a sa
Good luck. I’ll be in the same boat when my 19 switches, the MIkado w/sound), the decals and the book arrive in the mail … probably all on the same day [B)]
This may sound like heresy. I don’t have any turnout throws. I haven’t got around to installing them.
I have been running for almost 2-1/2 years and they work fine. If the turnout point correctly nest against the running rail they will stay put.
I run heavy On30 steam through them as well as HO IHC 4-4-0’s with knife edge flanges with no problem. I have also had no problem with dead frogs either. If your locomotives have proper pickups they won’t stall.
Jim Hediger’s famous “Mark 7” uses a simple piece of piano wire to create a spring that makes manual (i.e. your fingers) turnout control practical because the points don;'t flop around. The spring built into Peco turnouts achieves the same results.
Check out Tony Koester’s article on turnout control from just a couple of months ago in MR
Dave Nelson
I tried a bunch of those ideas and boy did I spend a lot of time for things that only half worked. hminky’s idea is the best until you can save a couple of buck.s Then I have had the best luck with caboose thows at a small price. I love humpyard for remote but the cost is almost asa high as tortise but they work better and look cooler.
