Foam and tortoise switch machines

[rrinker]

Worst case, I have to reballast the section I pulled up.
The club I used to belong to had hundreds of Tortoise powered turnouts. Not one EVER failed. I'm not worried.

--Randy

[nslakediv]

first idea looked great, but what happens if machine goes bad and scenry is complete. I would be more inclined to cut a oversized hole from the bottom and glue in the luan like rails5 mentioned. tortise is a good motor but not guarenteed for life.

[Anonymous]

It does also work to mount from below. Drill or cut a suitable hole all the way through the foam. Glue a piece of scrap plywood using a strong foam-friendly cement (e.g. liquid nails for projects) and fasten the switch machine to it. This is the only practical way to mount Switchmaster or Hankscraft switch machines.

[electrolove]

QUOTE: Originally posted by rrinker

I drop them in from the top, with the Tortoise mounted to a small square of perf board. There are some pictures in the construction section of my web page, also, I got the idea from here: http://www.pbase.com/tracktime/norcalf

It works great, and since the machine is so close to the turnout, you don't need to replace the stock actuator wire with a stiffer one. You can remove them, too. I've already removed two due to a slight change in plans.

--Randy

Thanks a lot for this, so simple and nice [:D]

Peter

[rrinker]

I drop them in from the top, with the Tortoise mounted to a small square of perf board. There are some pictures in the construction section of my web page, also, I got the idea from here: http://www.pbase.com/tracktime/norcalf

It works great, and since the machine is so close to the turnout, you don't need to replace the stock actuator wire with a stiffer one. You can remove them, too. I've already removed two due to a slight change in plans.

--Randy

[Anonymous]

I have the same dilema. My layout is 2" foam over a wood frame, no plywood.
I was thinking of glueing strips of luan plywood up under the foam from the bottom, between the "joists".
Anothe option I had considered was using a short piece of 1x3", mounting the Tortoise to it and screwing it to the joists.
Getting it located properly and drilling up through the foam without trashing the turnout could be rough in either case.
I guess I should have done some better advanced planning!

Doug

[electrolove]

How do I apply a tortoise switch machine when using foam to build the subroad and scenery? Foam is a soft material so must I do something special to make it work?