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.
Chip
Building the Rock Ridge Railroad with the slowest construction crew west of the Pecos.
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
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
73
Bruce in the Peg
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
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
concretelackey wrote: ARTHILL wrote: 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?
ARTHILL wrote: 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.
Modeling B&O- Chessie Bob K. www.ssmrc.org
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.