I have my turnouts laid and working - they are diven from below by Tortoise motors with light indication at the panel. This is a switching layout and the problem I now have is that when driving the train I am looking at the track from the side and it is not easy to tell which way the points are set. And by the time I've looked at the panel and worked out which switch I'm going into ... it's too late . Sooo, I want to add some clearer indication of the points position next to them. I don't really want to use lights, so the obvious thing is to use a small switchstand with a rotating target driven off the tiebar. The catch is that it needs to match (reasonably) the throw of my turnouts and not provide so much drag that they no longer throw properly. Oh, and I need about 24, so they need to be not too costly I have found the Rix Products switch stand kit which looks like it might do the job. Anyone got any experience of this? Any other suggestions?
Mike, I am wondering exactly the same thing yesterday with my craft room table layout and thought you could use a small pop-up type thing...Just a little cantilever running off the tiebar so that when the tiebar move over, the little sign comes up, when it goes the other way that one comes down and the other goes up. You need to avoid using springs to bring them down, because that would load up the switch motor a bit, but a VERY loosly pivoting fixture shouldnt do too much to your switch motor. I am thinking along the lies of : Attach very light sprung wire to the ties each side of the tie rod..so its kinda U shaped with the tierod in the center. On this light wire, put your little pop up sign. The sign should be fairly light (say .040 ABS) with the 'pole' part maybe an inch long with the hole for the wire at about the center. One end of this has your actual sign on it, the other end had a hole in it. Attach a heavier piece of wire (pretty heavy) to the tierod end, then to the bottom of your sign. As the tierod moves across, it pushes the bottom of the sign, which pivots on the light wire and up she comes. I think, to really limit drag, you would need to actually recess the bottom and mid point of the sign BELOW the tierod, just to ensure you have leverage. If the sign laid down perfectly flat, and was level with the tierod, the tierod would have NO leverage at all because it would just be trying to push everything straight at the spring wire. If I could post a pic here, it would be MUCH clearer...... Its not as hard or as complicated as I make it sound...lol. Contact me via email at roger.bruce@bendigobank.com.au and I'll draw you a picture
Disisme, thanks for the e-mail. Here's your picture, so the others know what you're talking about : Interesting idea, and definitely cheap as you say. Is this based on any prototype, or did you brew it yourself? However, I don't think I'll go that way for two reasons. Firstly, it's a reasonable amount of work to build and install them and I have already have more than enough to do . Second, my tracks are mostly pretty close together and I don't think I'll have the space for these (I'm not even sure if I can fit the Rix switchstands in as I don't have any dimensions for them ....)
Mike, how about repeating the indication at the points location by mounting a small plate with two LED's on the fascia or another easily noticed position? Have one marked normal and the other reverse (or main, siding, etc.). You can utilise the Tortoise's electrical switch without anything else physically attached to the points.
Mike, this is based purely upon an hour or so's thought, and is based upon good old motorcycle suspensioon theory (from waaaay back in the late 70's). I dont have that seperation problem, obviously. You only need an inch between tracks, by maybe 1/8 of an inch wide for the slot (plunge router will do the job in a flash). I can see a seperation problem on the straight side of the switch though, for sure, but only if you have 2 switches side by side. If that was the case you could put a little 'sideways' angle on the tierod drawbar and pivot both signs off the same high tensile pivot wire. This sideways deflection would add a little load to the tierod, but certainly not enough to stall a tortoise or even an Atlas 'clicker'. In HO, if you have less than an inch seperation your running your tracks too close together...LMAO.. Remeber, the sign is .040 thick, and the slot its in would only need to be marginally wider than that...maybe 1/4 inch. With 24 switches, thats 48 slots. A Router could cut those slots in...oh....2 minutes...without any need to remove track or ballast thats already laid (the router will clear that for you!). The wire from the tie rod would be a little time consuming...drill a hole in the end of the tie rod, make a pushrod with little S bends at each end, attach to the sign, attach to the tierod, then the tricky part of the spring wire..... Lets say an hour to make the push rods, another hour to make the signs, 10 mintues to route the holes, 10 minutes to drill the holes in the signs and tierods, 5 minutes to cut the spring wire, 30 minutes to attach the first one, and 10 minutes for each one after that x 23 = 6 hours work..... Pretty good, I think. A nice days project. Of course, you can save considerable time by just buying the pushrods from an RC model store. These come in a myriad different lengths and styles, and you just click em into the holes. If you want to get fancy, they even make nylon ones that you can bend around corners (inner pushrod, outer sleeve. Attach the sleeve to anything, anywhere, and the pushrod still functions, though the more / sharper the curves, the more effort in moving it).
Mike, I was trying to be less invasive with that design that it could have been. I have another plan for something that had EVERYTHING below your layout base board. I'll email you a pic...again...lmao.
OK, emailed..... This one is pretty neato, because you can actually make the cantilever system in a self contained ABS 'box', slot your baseboard, and slip the box in (one box per side). All the boxes are absolutely identical (not 'side specific') so you can spend a couple hours just making boxes, another session cutting housings into your baseboard (from underneath), then another session slipping em in and connecting them to the tierod / switch motor. All you see from above is a hole .040 x 1/4 inch, or a sign...NOT a large hole, thats for sure. I think I could turn out one of the cantilever boxes in about 10 minutes....undoubtedly faster once I had my production line going there are only 4 parts inside them...the cantilever, its mounting shaft, the sign, and the connecting pin between the cantilver and sign. I'd probably make the box as big as possible just to make it less fiddly, and 'pad out' the cantilever shaft space to prevent lateral movement of the lever itself (could get ugly if it was to move sideways or slide along the shaft!). When mike posts the pic, you'll see what all that means
ACK....the picture is wrong...it shows the switch turned in the wrong direction. OK, now, everyone just use your imagination and see the rails in the picture going the other way...LMAO. The switch rails are to the right, but the tiebar is thrown left..oopsie
Gary, there are a few issues with using lights for me. I won't go into them but they wouldn't be good. If I was going electric I'd have a solenoid driven mechanical idicator . Disisme, here's your second diagram (but I have corrected the position of the switch points so as not to stretch imaginations too far ): It's a neat idea, but you don't really need an indicator on both sides - one would do. If it's up then the switch is (eg) diverging; if down then straight. However, it still isn't what I really want, but your suggestions have given me some ideas based on the way the Tortoise mechanism works. If no-one comes up with any info on commercial offerings I will develop them a bit more.
Yep, your right in that you only really need one sign.... If its up, your switching, if its down your straight through. I still kinda like the idea of having 2, but the workload would be halved with only one I've never seena tortoise, so I cant really say anything on that point. Do they have an 'arm' like an RC Servo that you just attach a rod too and it moves your tierod? You could use that arm to work the cantilever and that would actually be a much simpler, and easier, solution. You'd still have the cantilver box setup, but you wouldnt be messing with your track. Hey Mike, by the way....This is called 'modelling' for good reason....its the challenge of creation and customisation. Buying commercial isnt in the spirit (j/k)
