holy cow, I am SO late to see this build. I am impressed with everything so far, I will need to try to duplicate a lot of this work, especially the wiring
Thank you all for the kind comments regarding the wiring and subsequent write up. I appreciate it and it also makes me feel better knowing that I am probably the slowest person to build a small switching layout.
A switch of process let's see how this will turnout... As shown earlier, I had installed all my servos beneath the individual turnouts and had wired both the turnout routes as well as the frog. Now all that was left to do was to install the servo actuating rod. Tam Valley provides a pre-bent metal rod, but it is much too thick for the smaller N scale turnouts. I learned the hard way on the Galesburg City Job, that the thicker wire and torque of the servo could force and mis-align a diverging route. I had initially used a very thin music wire; I believe it was .009. This was too springy and did not always accomplish the task. I went through my collection of K&S wire and found that .025 was just big enough in diameter to poke through the small hole in the Micro Engineering turnout throw and still have enough give at full deflection. Here is how I set up my throws once the servos and boards have been installed. On the left is the .025 K&S wire, to the left is the servo horn. This horn is placed on top of the servo output wheel and moves left to right or up and down depending on the installation of the servo. In my case, the servo will travel left to right. These servos are micro-9-gram servos typically used in model airplane applications. Despite the size however, they have more than enough torque to throw an N scale or HO scale turnout. I start by using a pair of fine needle nose pliers and bend a 90-degree bend on the very end, leaving a length about 10 mm or 1/4-inch. Next, I use the smaller holes on the servo horn as a guide and produce another 90-degree bend as seen here. Now the wire is slid as seen above into the servo horn. Pay attention as you want the longest part of the wire to go up through the top of the servo horn as the servo is mounted inverted. Next the small part that was the first bend is carefully bent back on to the servo horn as seen above. This should be firm, not sloppy. It doesn't need to be glued as the tension bent into the wire is enough to secure the wire to the horn. Now carefully thread the wire through the small hole in the Tam Valley servo mount and up into the throw arm of the turnout as seen above and hook up power with the Tam Valley push button actuator. Allow the servo to center and place the servo horn on the servo. You'll need to experiment with the servo horn position on the servo and throw of the turnout. The Tam Valley servo has two servo settings, one for a short throw and one for a long throw, this dictates the actual travel of the servo. The adjustment is made at the board with a small jumper. If the jumper is on both posts, it will have a shorter travel. Since this is N scale, my servos are set up for short travel. Once I am happy with the throw, I trim the wire flush with the throw bar and bring in a locomotive to test my directions and powered frog. There is a three-way switch on the servo that is actuated by the opposite side of the servo arm as the actuator wire. If the locomotive causes a short while traversing the frog, simply switch the white wire with the blue wire on the three-way switch attached to the servo and with the polarity corrected, the locomotive will now traverse the main as well as diverging route without incident. I'm finally where I wanted to be a back in February and that is to paint and weather the track as well as set up a few impromptu switching sessions, however, I'm off to the Rocky Mountain Train show this weekend and I will be switching gears once I return. To solve Model Railroad burnout (Remember I work for Athearn, and model trains is my full-time job), I will enjoy another albeit somewhat "dead" hobby of building a stick and tissue rubber powered model airplane. This enjoyable tangent will allow me to be creative without burn out. After I have completed that in April, May will find me working on my NTrak module and getting it ready for Galesburg RR Days, so This may be the last entry here until July. If you found the servo turnout installation informative and useful, let me know. If you want to see a more detailed install, I can perhaps use the NTrak module as a step-by-step process in another post. More to come...
Jim, Your detailed explanations are fantastic, well done! I have a really simple question: 1. What tool do you use to cut off the servo wire above the ME tie bar? I have had problems cutting it below the rail tops with wire cutters and also the force pushing sideways through the hole in the tie bar. The wire can also damage some wire cutters. I use a slightly thicker throw wire for my 3/4 inch thick plywood subroadbed with 1/4 inch thick Basswood roadbed. - Tonkphilip
Thank you for your kind comments. I use a pair of side cutters I purchased a number of years ago at a hardware store, specifically made for hardened wire. Don't use the Xuron tools used for cutting rail as they will become damaged. I would look at your local ACE/TrueValue or a shop that carries electrical tools. As an added bonus, you may find a tool that is manufactured in the U.S.A. like my wire strippers I use. Also, I forgot to mention, depending on the size of the cutters, a file may need to be used to get the wire closer to flush of the throwbar. Hope that helps.
