Leaderboard

Thanks Will - agreed...nothing worse than knowing where a problem is...even if others don't notice it. Thanks also Tom...Sure thing...send that PM...tempting this 2mmFS stuff isn't it?

I used the Geoff Jones tiebars too and agree about them working; bet I'm a bigger numpty than you, Nick......

try the Geoff Jones tiebars even a numpty like me can get them to work

Hi Rich, I'm not sure if this will work for your loose heels and in such a small space (or even that my slowed mind is actually adressing your problem), but a common method to allow the rotational moment in ply and rivet tiebar joints in 4mm is to use a flat-headed rivet (brass so it acan be soldered) in a close fitting (but clearance hole) in the tiebar (like http://www.newportmrs.com/TFC/Frecclesham/October%202011/Tie%20Bar.jpg - but next scale down from Senior!) Cheers Jan

I'm no expert Rich, but I've just made my first 11 turnouts operational, and with a bit of fiddling they seem to work ok. The homemade TOU was retrofitted after construction, and though your operating system would seem to be wire in tube in routed channels whereas mine uses Cobalt motors fitted below the board, I think there could be some compatibility. My switches have rightangled springy dropper wires soldered along the length of the blades; the solder joint is about 3mm long, so quite strong. The droppers drop into brass tubes attached to a slider bar, and small plastikard wedges stop them slopping about while allowing rotation within the tube. While my tubes extend through the board and attach to a tiebar below the board, it would be possible to use short tubes set in a plastic tiebar in your channel, I'm sure. In fact, with shorter tubes you won't have the problem I had to start with of tubes rocking slightly under load, which I solved with a different method of attaching them to the tiebar. When I build the second board of my layout, I may well use this system myself. This is my first layout, so my advice may be absolute rubbish; feel free to ignore. Good luck with it anyway!!!