Mounting Turnout motors

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Hello,
Any hints on mounting turnout motors below the layout when the top is 2" foam?

2

I use Tortoise switch motors, and since the wire that comes with it is too flimsy to switch my peco turnouts, I buy .039" spring wire from the hobby shop and just cut it longer to reach up through the foam.

3

I guess we really need to know what kind of motors and what kind of turnouts.

I like Peco turnouts and motors. They are twin-coil, and they mount solidly to the underside of the turnout. I cut a hole all the way through the roadbed and foam, and then slide a bit of cardboard in between the ties and the switch machine. That covers the hole and lets me apply ballast to hide the opening.

I’m experimenting with an Atlas under-table machine for Atlas turnouts. These have linkage pins which are designed for 3/4-inch plywood max, so you can’t mount them below 2 inches of foam. I cut the linkage and replaced it with a short pin, and then glued the whole thing to the bottom of the turnout. So far, it seems to work OK. The only problem is that you can’t throw the turnout manually - you have to go to the panel and pu***he buttons.

4

The answer [believe it or not] was given to someone in another forum and they followed [my advice [:D] ] and they even have pictures for you to follow.
This is the answer [I think] you are looking for. Have fun

http://www.all-model-railroading.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=3648.15

5

Thanks guys, food for thought.

6

I did mine in a similar manner, I saw it illustrated on the North California FREEMO group’s web site. I used some simple perf board from Radio Shack instead of plywood, the 6x9 large size snaps into 6 Tortoise-size squares plus a bit left over I used at terminal strips on my control panel. My cutouts in the foam are nowhere near that neat - I’d still be working on the first section if I tried doing it by hand like that - I used a router bit in the Dremel (and held the hose of the shop-vac in the other hand - makes a lot of dust, but by keeping the shop-vac right up to the Dremel the mess was 90% sucked right up).
I have since discovered that it is a million times easier to just put some latex caulk on the Tortoise (same thing I used to lay roadbed and track) and plop it right on the bottom. The cut the hole method is great if you have limited clearance underneath, but way more complicated. The caulk holds the Tortoise immediately, at least enough to hold it on against its own weight, yet you can still slide it around to align it. After 24 hours that sucker is NOT coming off - I did finally pull off my test one by pulling it HARD, and it actually pulled a bit of the foam along with it. If you are parnoid about it falling off, clamp the excess throw wire up top til the caulk dries. Advantage: goes on REALLY quick, yet allows plenty of time to line things up, no worries about driving a screw in and hoping it’s lined up good enough and/or doesn;t get drawn out of alignment by the screw going in slightly crooked. No reason this wouldn;t work under more traditional bulding materials like plywood instead of foam.

–Randy

7

I mount my Scale Shops and Railway Engineering motors with two types of mountings: The Scale Shops have a hard plastic base that’s pretty large, so I just put 3M Permanent Mounting foam tape on the bottom and slap 'em up. No problems in the last two years… The Railway Engineering motors are smaller, so I first screw-mount them to a piece of craft wood about 1/8" thick and 2" square, then use Liquid Nails for Projects, and jam them up against the bottom of the foam with a stick, braced against the floor. Again, no problems…