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I have used manual turnout controls for several years and much prefer them over electrical switch machines for several reasons. The wiring is much simpler, they never break or burn out and they rarely need adjustment. By having to accompany the train around the layout to do switching, it gives more of a prototype feel to operations. I build my own from articles in MR over the years. I have never used choke cables, preferring instead model airplane bell cranks if there is a need to reach a difficult spot on the layout. Now that I have "gone modular" on recent layouts, that's usually not necessary anyway as no turnout is more than a couple of feet from the fascia board. The biggest expense is for the DPDT slide switch and you can get good prices on them if you order them in quantity. Stiff piano wire works well, especially if you guide it through screw eye hooks to keep it form flexing. For control handles, I use small wooden turnings that you can buy at Michael's or similar craft stores. John
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