Model Railroading > hand thrown switches ??

any ideas out there on good dependable home made track switch levers other than the commercial ones,??

What's wrong with Caboose Industries ground throws? I've used them for many years with no problems. I think the p/n is 206S and have about 3 doz. on my layout with Peco Code 75 switches.
gtirr

Bill Darnaby did an article in Model Railroader a couple of years ago on a very simple to build throw. The knob mounts on the front of the fascia. I built quite a few of them, real easy to do. And as an added bonus, you can put in power routing for the frog. If needed, I can find the exact date of the article and provide, but it will be tomorrow.

Larry

About 20 years ago or so in MR magazine
someone wrote a wheels-off piece on turnout throw
operated by water pressure - here is how it was to work :

Mount a syrenge on the facia and connect the end to
a length of plastic tubing, and connect the other end of
the tubing to a piston, which is connected to the turnout
linkage. Fill the tube with water, and when you depress
the syrenge, the water pressure pushes on the piston, moving
the linkage and thus your turnout. The linkage is sprung
so when you pull back on the syrenge and decrease the pressure
the turnout moves back to its original position.

Maybe using that Caboose Industries ground throw ain't such
a bad idea after all?

ClinchValley wrote:
>
> Bill Darnaby did an article in Model Railroader a couple of
> years ago on a very simple to build throw. The knob mounts on
> the front of the fascia. I built quite a few of them, real
> easy to do. And as an added bonus, you can put in power
> routing for the frog. If needed, I can find the exact date of
> the article and provide, but it will be tomorrow.


I've used that style of throw on a number of guys' layouts, and agree that it works very well.

The only change I think I'd make is that most installations I've seen simply glue a bead onto the end of the actuating rod as a knob. I'd be more inclined to thread the actuating rod and tap the bead or knob, so it doesn't pull free in a couple years.

-fm

Actually, if you are using Peco switches, they have their own throw. Let me explain. I use Tortise machines on mainline switches which are Shinohara and Micro Engineering. However, on a rather large railroad, this is expensive, so I started using Peco several years ago in yards and on industrial spurs. At first I used the Caboose throws, but decided that was a waste of money, since the Peco's have the spring built in. Today, I have two major yards in particular, one has 60 plus Pecos, and the other about 40 Pecos, all using the built in spring and the operator simply uses a piece of dowel rod to throw the switches, using the projection on the outside of the throwbar. Both yards have been in place around nine years, I have had three switches fail because of the spring, which I replaced. If I have a peco that isn't carrying current, I use a fine emory board and a drop of clipper oil on the points and they are fine.

Obviously if the switches are out of arms length, then this is not practical. But for a yard or area at the edge of the bench work, it is a practical and inexpensive way to do switches.

In the January 2001 Model Railroader it talks about the RS-3 switch spring. Ridiculously simple model three is what RS-3 stands for. They just use some bent wire as a spring. It has been in the magazine seveeral times over the years. I don't use it, but it looks pretty simple.

You might want to take a look at this web page:
http://members.home.net/sask.rail/manual-throws.html
-trainman-

On my layout, I use a slide switch under the roadbed to mechanically move the switch points and route power to the frog. A piece of piano wire or brass rod extended out through the facia board with a plastic stick-pin on the end provides "user interface". There was an article in MR 20 years or so ago that gave me the original idea. They are very inexpensive, but somewhat time consuming to build.

I'm with the Peco theory. Peco makes GREAT turnouts, and they're relatively cheap. The cost of an Atlas plus the cost of a Caboose ground throw is generally more than a Peco. And, if it's a dead-end siding, you can use the power-route feature instead of a toggle switch, saving further money and effort.

Note: There's one mail-order place in MR or RMC selling Peco #6's for less than $10. This is a huge bargain. Stock up now!

Jason