I’ve seen plenty of ways to control turnouts that aren’t readily accessible from the aisle and I preferr the simpler setups. So last night I had an idea for reaching some of my upper level turnouts. Here’s what I’m thinking: use some .030 wire, bend on end 90 degrees to engage the throwbar, cut length as needed to reach the aisle. Cut a slit in the foam maybe 1/4" deep and embed the wire into the foam. Glue a bead on exposed end of wire for a knob. Basically use the slit in the foam as a guide for the wire, the wire should be able to slide back and forth easily enough but I’m guseeing that there would still be enough friction to hold the points.
Downsides I see are the potential to glue the works together when doing scenery and difficult serviceing after sceniked, but with its ultra simple design what can really go wrong?
It should work, when you use those spring-loaded Peco turnouts. I don´t think there is enough friction to hold the points in place for all other brands. And I would not like to relie on the foam guiding the rod, use a brass tube embedded in the foam.
I’d put the music wire in brass tubing instead of leaving it bare. Unless you are using Peco turnouts with their built-in spring, you’ll probably need something to hold the turnout into position other than just the friction of the wire.
I believe someone already sells something similar, basically a wire in a tube. If the tube is several inches long, the wire has enough friction to hold the points reliably.
Since I need electrical contacts (hot frog plus MZL circuitry) I would prefer an electrical switch to a knob on the end of the wire. That guarantees enough tension to anchor the point firmly against the stock rail.
However, there are still some situations that require point position control from two or more locations. For those, the electric switch machine is indispensable. It doesn’t have to be obtrusive. I mount mine at the fascia line and drive the points with the opposite idea - fishing line under tension (which doesn’t need a tube, just a few screw eyes for guides.)
Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - with fascia-mounted point movers)
In my R/C Planes I used cable running through plastic tubing. If you use it for turnout control the flex of the cable can work as a spring to hold a turnout in position. Connect the knob to the end of the cable and on your fascia and have a ridge or something else to hold it in place when pushed in or pulled out. You can hook the cable right to the switch or to a vertical piece of piano wire running down from the switch. Any R/C hobby store has an array of fasteners that can help with MRR applications using push rods or cables or a combination. Small springs with or without bellcranks can be incorporated where extra push or pull is needed to keep a switch in position. Good luck.
As others have mentioned you need to put the music wire inside a brass tube.the grove in the foam will not provide enough stability and even at .030 the wire will flex. It may work but the action will be sloppy and inconsistent
The turnout operated by the Tortoise in the picture below is 10" from the switch machine. A brass tube is under the plywood and it clamped in place in place by two wooden blocks one of which is visible in the pic with a grove milled out of the top of the block just .005 smaller then the diameter of the brass tube. When the wooden blocks are screwed into the plywood they clamp the brass tube and it does not move at all. I choose to make it removable but in your case I would lay the brass tube with the wire inside of it all hooked up to the turnout and use Liquid Nails for foam to secure the tube in place and then cover it eventually with ground cover
I got the idea from a combination of pictures of old Armstrong interlockings and automotive choke cables. I plan to have a manual control interlocking on the layout and may have some of these turnout controls exposed for scenic effect.
But I’ll start with just simple direct to throwbar hookups. So .030 wire in a tube should be ok to operate the turnouts butthe question of holding positionhas been raised. I already have the turnouts I’d like to use and they are not spring loaded. How about this: put a kink in the wire somewhere that will end up inside the tube basically forcing it to bind a bit in the tube and create extra friction. Think that may work?
Putting a kink in the wire will definitely provide enough friction to hold HO points in position. It only takes a few grams of force. My fishing line counterweights are a couple of stripped 1/4 inch nuts, and they are quite adequate.
Allegheny, I like your remote Tortoise mount. I haven’t used them, and was wondering if they could be rigged as you’ve done.
Though no expert, I had a similar situation on my layout. I use Atlas turnouts, but didn’t like how they looked with the remote switch machines attached. Sooo, I buried the twin coil machines in the foam on top of 3/4" ply, screwed them down with wood screws, and used .020 wire from the machines to the throw bar on the TO. To ensure that there would be no issues with friction on the wire, I simply did as you were thinking, cut a groove in the foam and ran the wire through pieces of soda straws. Cheap and plentiful. I’d post a photo, but it’s a hassle on this forum (hint-hint to the mods). Gerry S.
What you’ve proposed should work. It’s basically the same as some turnout controls I rigged up about 25 years ago. I used wire as you’re planning on doing. Main difference is I didn’t have foam. I ran the wires under the plywood through screw eyelets to the location of the turnout and attached the wires just as you described. You’d be doing the same except running the wire through the foam. Too bad you don’t have a way of doing it that doesn’t involve cutting the foam. There should be some way of running the wire through the foam.
Chuck: Thanks to be quite honest I found those remote Tortoise mounts to be a royal pain in the rump. The same thing can be accomplished with a little ingenuity and some simple materials found in your LHS. I picked up mounting the Tortoise on a piece of 1/4" plywood form a board member named Chuck I believe who had it posted on his website I found during a search. Really ingenious way to mount them rather then working underneath the bench work etc.
I see no reason why you couldn’t substitute the Tortoise with a knob, again head off the the local home center or if you really want to go cheap head to the dollar or craft store and pick up some plastic beads of a size that fits your needs. simply heat the end of the .030 music wire with your soldering iron and push the bead onto the hot end of the wire, holding it the wire with a pair of needle nose pliers of course.
As far as how to hold the turnout in one position what I did on my old layout that had some 130 odd turnouts all of which were manually controlled was I simply took a small spring and either clamped or soldered it to the throw wire and secured it to the underside with a wood screw. I had them all set up so they returned to the open position, from what I understand is what your supposed to do. At least thats what the guys I operate keep yelling at me to do, bunch of crabby old farts…lol
My LHS here in town is a big R/C shop if you walk through and eyeball their inventory the model plane guys use a ton of really neat bell cr
