Tortoise and 2X4

[Blind Bruce]

What can I do? My turnout is located directly above a 2X4 crossmember of the benchwork. It is also below 1/4" cork, 2" foam and 1/2" plywood. I can remove the turnout for service but the adjoining track is caulked down. To move the turnout 2" in either direction is possible but not desireable. I definitely want to use the Tortoise here.

[loathar]

I've got the same problem with 2 turnouts. I was gonna use a wood chisel and remove part of the 2x4. You can also use brass wire to make a remote linkage so you can mount the switch machine off to the side and run the wire to the turnout. I don't know how the foam would effect you doing this. You'd have to use some pretty stiff wire to make it work.

Is it possible to move the cross member? I put mine in with sheet rock screws so I could move them a bit if necessary.

[ARTHILL]

• Get some piano wire from a hardware store. It needs to be very stiff. With some creativity, linkage can be fabricated. If you bend some and use it as a bell crank, it will give a little play.  I have operated some turnouts from the top and hidden the wire in the scenery. You will probably have to make a mounting place for the tortoise and for the wire. You can also use the choke wire approach and have the tortoise operate the choke wire. It all works and non is very simple.

[SpaceMouse]

IF it was mine, I would cut the 2 x 4 in two places and run a couple 2 x4 headers to the ajoining joists.

[concretelackey]

• Get some piano wire from a hardware store. It needs to be very stiff. With some creativity, linkage can be fabricated. If you bend some and use it as a bell crank, it will give a little play.  I have operated some turnouts from the top and hidden the wire in the scenery. You will probably have to make a mounting place for the tortoise and for the wire. You can also use the choke wire approach and have the tortoise operate the choke wire. It all works and non is very simple.

Would metal coat hanger wire be overkill?

[bogp40]

• Get some piano wire from a hardware store. It needs to be very stiff. With some creativity, linkage can be fabricated. If you bend some and use it as a bell crank, it will give a little play.  I have operated some turnouts from the top and hidden the wire in the scenery. You will probably have to make a mounting place for the tortoise and for the wire. You can also use the choke wire approach and have the tortoise operate the choke wire. It all works and non is very simple.

Would metal coat hanger wire be overkill?

The tensile strength of the music wire for the small guage is what makes it desireable.  Coat hanger should work just much thicker, I don't know if you want to drill a hole that large in the throwbar.

[Stevert]

  You can always use the remote mount Circuitron makes for this purpose:

http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/800-6100 

  If it doesn't look like it will exactly fit/work, be advised that it can be assembled and used in several different orientations, and the "remote actuator" can be much further away than the illustration shows.

 

HTH,
Steve

[locoworks]

i would suggest supporting your baseboard and removing a 6 inch ( 4 or 5 may do? ) section of the 4x2 under the turnout, if possible?. then while the baseboard is still supported, glue and screw another length of 4x2 as long as practical alongside the 'space' of the existing 4x2 to create a glued and screwed 'double dogleg' arrangement. when the glue is dry it should be safe to remove the baseboard support and you should have space for the operating arm side of the tortoise with the board supported well. it's a bit of a chore but it could achieve what you require.

[dadret]

Tortoise makes a remote control kit that you could use but I don't think its very "user friendly".  You might want to look at it - Walthers catalog number 800-6100.  Cutting the 2x4 is probably a better idea.

[Bill54]

I know you say you want to use theTurtoise in that spot.  You will also have to use a longer piece of piano wire than the one they give you with the Tortoise. 

One other suggestion would be to use a Hump Yard Purveyance http://www.humpyard.com/  they can be installed up to about 6 feet from the turnout.  There are a few people here that are using them.  They are extremely versitile and can be mounted in a variety of ways to throw the turnout.

Bill

[Blind Bruce]

Thanks to everyone. My solution, as of now, was to drill the hole through the foam and plywood at a slight angle so it came out just beside the 2X4. I have "operated" the turnout with a piece of wire and it seems doable to try the Tortoise. I will let you know probably tomorrow or Saturday.

[BATMAN]

Try R/C airplane cable. The cable slides through a plastic sleeve so it won't bind on any foam or wood and I believe there is a piece of hardware that allows a connection between piano wire and the cable. It would never fail in our pricey airplanes and it took some pretty tight turns going through the innards of the aircraft from servos to control surfaces. You can also run piano wire through a plastic sleeve for bind free operation.

[rayw46]

You didn't mention how far the turnout is from the edge of the layout and whether or not it is convenient to your operational scheme.  The reason I say this is because there is such a thing as a manual ground throw.  The great majority of prototype switches are still thrown manually if I'm not mistaken.  Of course, if the one you refer to is controlled by CTC, then that's another story.

Ray

[SpaceMouse]

I'm sort of surprized, but not really, that the idea of moving the 2 x 4 or a part of it is the last resort people think of. I've heard idea after idea that will take lots of time to implement, when cutting a chunk of the 2 x 4 out and supporting it on the ajoining braces with 2 x 4 headers would take a few minutes and solve the problem.

Or cutting a chunk of 2 x 4 out and running a piece of 2 x 4 along side it.