C & L Tie/Stretcher Bars

[Focalplane]

Is there anyone out there will experience of using C & L tie/stretcher bars?  I have bought some but there are no instructions included, particularly with reference as to how they would be coupled with a Tortoise switch motor.  I would prefer to place the operating shaft of the Tortoise under the tie bar, as it would be located if operating a Peco turnout.  This would mean attaching the steel piano wire of the Tortoise to the flexible insulating strip of the tie bar.  But how?

 

The flexibility of the insulating part of the tie bar would seem to be essential for good operation of a double slip (using one motor for each end of the double slip).

 

I have attached a photo of the tie-bars:

 

[Gordon A]

For a double slip you need at least four standard stretcher bars.  One for each pair of blades.

The ears go between each pair of switch blades.

 

Gordon A

Bristol

[buffalo]

I used them on a previous EM layout, but, as you say, there's no effective way of coupling the flexible part to a vertical wire from a Tortoise or similar. I coupled them to an angle crank (also a C&L product IIRC) as seen below. The pin through the crank went through the baseboard in a tube to another angle crank below. As you can see, the flexible part of the bar has a tendency to distort where not supported by the internal wire. It worked, but I was never happy with it and have used other approaches (e.g. Masokits stretcher bars) since.

 

Nick

 

[Izzy]

It's a few years since I last used these type of tie-bars, but basically all they are is wire bent to shape and connected by flexible tubing, to provide insulation and a degree of movement for the blades. As such the only viable way of using them is to connect the drive from whatever you are using to one end of the wire. I bent up the end and used v small angle cranks on a shaft that went sub-baseboard to the operating mech (rods and lever frames).

 

With a tortoise I think you would have to position it to one side and let the actuating wire drive the tie-bar wire end somehow.

 

Izzy

[Paul Cram]

I have used them without problem on a couple of layouts. Again I used a crank on the end of a rod in a tube going through the baseboard. The end  of the rod had a crank that the wire from the tortoise operated. The benefit of then being flexible is they don't strain the soldered joint to the blades and therefore are very reliable.

[Focalplane]

I used them on a previous EM layout, but, as you say, there's no effective way of coupling the flexible part to a vertical wire from a Tortoise or similar. I coupled them to an angle crank (also a C&L product IIRC) as seen below. The pin through the crank went through the baseboard in a tube to another angle crank below. As you can see, the flexible part of the bar has a tendency to distort where not supported by the internal wire. It worked, but I was never happy with it and have used other approaches (e.g. Masokits stretcher bars) since.

 

Nick

 

cl-tie-bar.jpg

Nick, your photo had a delayed reaction overnight.  Looking at one of the packets of two tie bars, I remembered that you had used two in your photo (linked above).  Obviously this doubles the strength and reliability of the mechanism, but also it occurred to me that with two bars it would be possible to arrange them to work with a Tortoise in its preferred location under the tie bar(s).  I'll have to give this more thought (and comments and ideas would be welcome) particularly on what arrangement would be made to lock the tortoise wire between the two tie bars.  In the 1:1 world this would be easy, but in 1:76. . . . .