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Manual Turnout Control by Cable

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  • Member since
    February 2009
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Posted by railandsail on Friday, December 21, 2018 10:57 AM

You are correct Gregc, I need to take a closer look at that.

  • Member since
    February 2009
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Posted by railandsail on Friday, December 21, 2018 11:10 AM

Dave,
Here is what I do. I'm composing a posting, and I run across a link I want to make. I've copied that link onto my mouse, and I paste it in my posting. Then I go to that 'link icon' above and I get a pop up window that ask me for the text I want to select as a link, then the url of the link, which I insert,...and I think I am done? At first it-hi ites my link like I did it correctly, but subsequently it does NOT make the link?

At one time I thought the mistake I was making was not providing info in that 3rd box labeled "target", which appears by default to say "none". So I tried pasteing the url in that box. I've forgotten exactly what did or did not work, but it seems I remember that this did not help either. Whoever wrote this software worked in a different universe that most the other forums I participate on.

Did I explain it correctly??

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Posted by railandsail on Friday, December 21, 2018 12:00 PM

Gregc
I'm thinking that under-the-deck control would work well on all the 'upper decks' (main deck & the upper deck) of my layout, and particularly the freight yard/steel mill area.

On the staging deck I could probably modify it just a little and put the DPDT switch on the top surface of the staging deck.

Here is one discussion I just ran across that looks like an even simplier installation?

http://www.railroad-line.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=23644

 

  • Member since
    February 2009
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Posted by railandsail on Friday, December 21, 2018 12:23 PM

And another site for manual control with a few intersting variations for the ends of the flex cable
http://www.trainboard.com/highball/index.php?threads/manual-turnout-control-with-rc-airplane-cables.23654

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Posted by railandsail on Friday, December 21, 2018 3:51 PM

Speaking of simplified,...

I use this control cable, wire cable inside of a flexible plastic tube, to control my turnouts. Mine are manually controlled from the front of the layout, but you could use this line to run from your points to the servo which now can be placed anywhere on the layout. This way you could position the servos under removable buildings or any other places where access is easy.

The Line is pretty inexpensive, probably about a buck a foot up here in Canada (more than likely cheaper in the US) It also comes with a assortment of plastic and metal clevises that can be real useful when connecting the cable to things.

Rick Reimer

  • Member since
    August 2013
  • From: Richmond, VA
  • 1,890 posts
Posted by carl425 on Saturday, December 22, 2018 9:28 AM

railandsail
Speaking of simplified,..

The simplest remote control I've seen was done using monofilament fishing line and sinkers.  This guy had a 1 oz sinker hanging under the turnout that would hold the turnout in the normal position and a 1/2 oz sinker on the reversed side.  He had another line running to a lever on the fascia that would lift the 1 oz sinker to throw the turnout.  The levers were attached to the line so they would move past center and the sinker would hold the lever in the thrown position. Loops in the line were made with the crimp connectors intended for making steel leaders to avoid having to tie precise knots.

He even had a few levers attached to multiple sinkers so he could throw turnouts in groups.

The best thing about the arrangement was almost zero precision was required to put it together.

I have the right to remain silent.  By posting here I have given up that right and accept that anything I say can and will be used as evidence to critique me.

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Posted by railandsail on Saturday, December 22, 2018 10:03 AM

Fishing Line Control

Now that is unique !!

  • Member since
    August 2003
  • From: Collinwood, Ohio, USA
  • 16,233 posts
Posted by gmpullman on Saturday, December 22, 2018 10:18 AM

railandsail

Fishing Line Control

Now that is unique !!

 

Joe Fugate on his Siskiyou Line has been using that method for years. The free-end of the fishing line was attached to a simple door deadbolt. He even set microswitches to them to power signals and turnouts.

Lots of methods out there to get the job done. I have a few places where I use the Humpyard levers. They look nice, are simple to operate and get the job done. 

 car_stop4 by Edmund, on Flickr

I bought enough to keep me supplied for the near future. I don't know how easy they are to find anymore. They come with enough throttle cable and hardware to make different configurations.

 

 

Good Luck, Ed

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Posted by railandsail on Saturday, December 22, 2018 11:59 AM

I was wondering what the Humpyard gear looked like. I've seen reference to it, but no photos till now

  • Member since
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  • From: Reading, PA
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Posted by rrinker on Saturday, December 22, 2018 6:34 PM

 The fishing line and sinker method is indeed super simple and cheap, but kind of defeats the purpose of nothing hanging down under the layout.

                                     --Randy


Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's

 

Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.

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Posted by saronaterry on Saturday, December 22, 2018 6:42 PM

Does anyone have a link to the fishing line method?

Terry

Terry in NW Wisconsin

Queenbogey715 is my Youtube channel

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Posted by railandsail on Saturday, December 22, 2018 9:47 PM

rrinker

 The fishing line and sinker method is indeed super simple and cheap, but kind of defeats the purpose of nothing hanging down under the layout.

                                     --Randy

 

Agreed Randy

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