-
Track Work - Caboose Industries Extended Ground Throws
The previous post discussed the caboose industries ground throws on my layout, with a particular emphasis on #206S (the beside-switch variant). 5 of the switches on my layout are too far from the edge to comfortably reach with my arm, and therefore, I needed some other way to flip them. Caboose Industries had a solution, with their #105R ground throw. This version of their N scale ground throw is nearly identical to the 206S, but lacks the internal springs. It is designed to be used with an extended linkage. The spring is meant to be on the linkage.
Caboose Industries sells his own linkage, #199R, which is made out of brass spring wire and has a small loop on the end to form the spring. 199R also includes a little brass tube to insert the wire into. The problem with 199R, however, is that its only a foot long, and 3 of the switches needed much longer extensions. My solution to this problem was to use music wire of a similar diameter and aluminum tubing to extend 199R. I accomplished this by soldering the music wire to 199R.
I dug a shallow trench in the foam for the extensions, and used some silicon caulk to secure the tubes in place. An interesting side effect of using the caulk was that it had a chemical reaction with the brass tube, and turned blue.
I secured the ground throws in the same way as 206S, and they’ve worked great so far.
