Here's how i control my switches / point's

[steveblackledge]

I had a pile of nylon pneumatic pipe of various sizes laying around and thought maybe i can make point control snakes out of them. i did it like this, first i cut a length of 3/16" pipe which has an internal diameter of 1/16", i used mig welding wire for the control, (the wire is about half the size of the internal diameter so it will move freeley) this has a 90 degree bend on one end and at the control knob it is cut to length and glued with CA.

i used pipe in the following sizes, 3/16" 1/4" 5/16" and 3/8", these are a tight fit when pushed into each other

this is how i put the snakes together, the longest one i made is 4' long and the shortest is 4", you can bend them around corners but i don't recomend bending them tighter than 18" radius.
this is what you should end up with, the length will be determined by the location of your switches / point's. the control knob is made of 1/4" diameter pipe which is located inside the 3/8" diaeter pipe, this allows about 1/16" clearance between the knob and the portion that's glued into the facia or control panel
this is what the completed item look's like before final fitting to the railroad, don't glue the wire into the control knob untill you have determined if it will throw the switch.
have fun[:)]

[Fergmiester]

Thank you for sharing this with us Steve. I'm looking at rigging my Freight yard and have been looking at various methods, while scratching my head. Since you've made me think abouth this again I just figured out a few more things. Since my turnouts are Atlas I'll use a peco slide switch to keep them from accidently sliding. Since I have old bicycle brake cables sitting around I'll use them.

Thanks Steve!!!

[WilmJunc]

Steve:

Thanks for the idea and the great presentation of it.

Steve

[Eriediamond]

Another alternative is to use Ny-Rod. It is a product made to move the control surfaces on R/C model airplanes. It has an outer nylon tube with an inner tube that slides real easy and threaded rod can be screwed into the end which can be connected the the switch throw. This product can also be bent aroun corners and such the same as Steves method. As I stated in another post this can be found at www.towerhobbies.com. As you may deduct, I've spent many years in both the airplane hobby and the train hobby and have utilized a lot of things from model airplanes on the model trains. Ken

[steveblackledge]

forgot to mention i use Peco points / turnout's, they have a sprung overcenter action,
KEN, i had some RC plane bits but i sold them before starting with the trains, they would have done the trick, i used this stuff as it's all waste from work
Fergie, i tried some bike cable but didn't have much success, with this method the snakes sit directley below the turnout so you only nead a 1/4" bend on the end to go through the throwbar, it takes very little effort to operate these

[dinwitty]

thats for an edgeboard manual control, cool.

Theres commercial turnout linkages out there bt why buy.

I use brass tubing and drill thru the track board, the tubing a little longer than the thickness, then I use piano wire.. sized to suit,
thread the wire thru and bend it to match to the turnout point connection,
then underneath I bend it however way I need to a switch machine, or if you make an edgeboard control.