Well thought out. I like the adjustability of the upstand tubes. Personally, I decouple the operating arm and the driving motor with an omega- or z-loop, but maybe you won't need this with the Tortoise.

Well thought out. I like the adjustability of the upstand tubes. Personally, I decouple the operating arm and the driving motor with an omega- or z-loop, but maybe you won't need this with the Tortoise.

To be fair, something along those lines will have to be fitted, or maybe just adjustable dead stops to limit the travel of the arm. I doubt the points would hold up to the full force of the Tortoise pushing them across... or maybe even a springier wire on the Tortoise swing arm?

Some experimentation is still required.

I'm not familiar with the magnitude of the Tortoise operating arm force, but ideally, there needs to be two areas of decoupling: first, between driver and operating arm; and second, between operating arm and the blades. The latter (just sufficient to keep the relevant switchblade snug against the stock rail) should be a lot 'gentler' than the former. The distance between the upper end of your tube upstands and the blade fixing will be significant, as will the fit of your 0.28 wire within the tube internal diameter.