We’ve got an article coming up in our April issue that shows how to mount a Tortoise sideways and actuate the turnout via a crank-style wire linkage. The technique laid out in this article should work through any thickness of under-track scenery, and best yet, requires only a small hole in the roadbed, not a big one under the throw bar. The April issue ships in mid-February.
Steven,
Thanks for the heads up.
I am looking forward to that article.
Rich
While I’m late into this discussion, it is a timely one for me also. I had first tried the “heavier wire” route. I ended up getting brass rod to make the through stiff enough to cover that large of a gap. I had success up to about 2-3 inches of depth, but it still doesn’t work well when you get to 4 inches. I hadn’t considered the remote mount solution either. I was next going to pursue the “in foam” mount solution basically placing the motor directly under the track. There is a diagram on this website.
Since your turnout is in place, this thought just popped into my head. Since most foam board is a max of 2 inches, your 4 inch depth is probably 2 boards thick. It might be possible to cut an access hole (about 2 x 2 x 2) next to the turnout. Bring out that “plug” and set it aside. Then, cut the foam under your track and make a second hole directly under your turnout. Drill your wire access hole down through the next 2 inches of foam and the baseboard under the turnout. Once you snake your wires up, you can place the tortoise into the first hole and slide it under your turnout. Attach the tortoise to your turnout and wiring. When completed, place the first “plug” back into it’s hole next to the track and patch your scenery as needed.
It’s an idea…see if it works for you.
Thanks! I’ll give your idea a try.
Lefty
Jim’s idea is exactly what I did on my previous layout. Not my idea, I found the image of it on a Freemo group’s web site. You can see pictures of mine on my web site, under the “Old Stuff” section (scroll down), construction progress from the old layout. I used Radio Shack perfboards (so I could screw the Tortoise to the bottom of the small square - plus if you are careful they will snap evenly along a row of holes, no cutting needed, although I often started the cut with a pair of wire cutters). It worked out very well, and the bottom of the toroise only stuck out a little below the bottom of the foam - might come in handy on the upper decks of a multi-deck layout.
I have an idea that woudl work with the Tortoise on its side and makign a crank lever instead of a big hole, be interesting to see if the article idea ends up being the same. I would think that if the wire were bent in a C shape, with the vertical part passing through the benchwork, as the Toroise arm moved the lower part left and right, the upper part would mimic it and move the throwpar. And liek the way I did it for my servo, it wouldn;t have to be a C shape, Just a pair of 90 degree bends, so if the Tortoise could not be mounted parallel to the turnout, it would still work. I know you cannot comment on an article that has not yet been printed, just putting this here as the way I’d do that for reference when I finally see the actual article.
–Randy