Through a series of events I found myself in possession of a single tortoise switch machine.
I have no plans to wire more switches to a tortoise, and I want something more interesting.
I’ve dug up an old issue of mmr (titled “Workshop Tips”) and found instructions to make a chain fence entrance, and while that is a very exiting idea, its not fit for a layout such as my own. That got me thinking, what other fun uses could a single tortoise automate?
Get an HO scale junk yard dog. Need one dog and one doghouse. Dogs in the house when the switch is thrown one direction and throw the switch the other way and the dog comes out of his house, he has the throw rod stuck in his belly close to a leg and a slot in the ground. You may want to have a leash on him tied to his house.
Tell us more about your layout. I don’t understand quite what you mean by saying that a chain link fence and gate is “not fit” for your layout. If your era predates chain link fencing how about modelling a moving water tower spout or a semaphore signal?
I like the dog in a doghouse idea but I’d want to crank the Tortoise speed up so that the dog ‘charges’ out of its house instead of coming out slowly, if that’s possible.
Another idea might be to have some kids pushing over an outhouse.
You can use it anywhere you need linear actuation (movement in a line). You can even turn it into circular movement. (Rack gear (linear) attached to pinion gear (circular)). You could use it to animate a giant piston with a little circuit work. (Think huge cylinders like in steel mill blower plants) With a little work you can get a bucket on a crane to dump. Or with a little more work get a crane to move left and right, and have the bucket dump at each end using a movement profile track
The only problem is, as Randy rightly pointed out, tortoises are noisy.
Here’s how to do it. It’s tight working and maybe some trial and error…
1- The dog needs to have ears that stick up.
2- Drill a hole to fit .016 music wire (be sure to use proper cutters for music wire) through the dog box from side to side just inside of he door slightly below the tip of the dogs ears when he is positioned in the box.
3- Now throw the switch to have the dog exit the box, but he will not move just yet, the through the box rod holds him in place.
4- Now as the throw rod moves, it will bow ever so slightly (I’m not sure of the throw rod’s diameter, but thinner then stock wire) and lower the dogs rear end and tilt his head back which then the ears slip under the music wire and out pops the dog. Now you see why he needs a leash. Two dogs already got away.
Have a detector for the train when it hits it triggers the dog and sound of a dark barking, then it zips back into the dog house. …what we think up… I like opening a roundhouse door
Crank thge voltage up on a Tortoise so the dog lunges out faster, and you won’t have to worry about adding a sound unit for the growling.
–Randy
HaHa That would be a unique sounding dog.
You can use it anywhere you need linear actuation (movement in a line). You can even turn it into circular movement. (Rack gear (linear) attached to pinion gear (circular)). You could use it to animate a giant piston with a little circuit work. (Think huge cylinders like in steel mill blower plants) With a little work you can get a bucket on a crane to dump. Or with a little more work get a crane to move left and right, and have the bucket dump at each end using a movement profile track
The only problem is, as Randy rightly pointed out, tortoises are noisy.
