Cable operated points

[TD6239]

While grabbing a few bits for jobs over the weekend in a certain orange DIY Store I saw some 1.5mm stainless wire...

Has anyone tried cable operating points as per a lot of the German railways back in the day?

I’ll experiment for abit but if anyone’s tried it I’d love to know how it went!

Thanks, Tom

 

[Gavin Sowry]

Seen it done a few times. Use automotive/lawnmower choke/throttle cable. The secret is having it anchored securely.

 

[Martino]

I have used bike brake cables successfull. I routed them from the points up to bolts on the nearby fence. Worked very well and stood up to weather and the accumlated grot that you get with sandy soil and sprinkler systems!

I have moved to using Bertram Heyn point switches as I was finding leaning across the track areas to get to the fence a pain in the….back. I cab flick the Heyn levers with the uncoupling device I have on the end of a two foot length of rail and carry around with me.

The brake cables worked well though. There’s a bit of a thread about them here: https://www.gscalecentral.net/threads/building-manual-point-switch-throw-and.312948/

 

[playmofire]

Pre-war, Hornby O gauge had a system of wire operated points and signals.

Here is a link to a description of it from Meccano Magazine of December, 1926:

https://ogrforum.ogaugerr.com/fileSendAction/fcType/0/fcOid/78438393768072894/filePointer/80551019625758119/fodoid/80551019625758110/MM-The%20Hornby%20Control%20System%20%28p748%29%20%28Dec%201926%29%20%28created%202009-11-08%20101131%29.pdf

and a bit from The Brighton Toy and Model Museum:

The Hornby Control System No 2 Outfit

www.brightontoymuseum.co.uk

 

[dunnyrail]

Depends how stiff the wire is and what your baseboard is made of. I used the system to link 2 points for a crossover and soldered short pieces of tube to brass screws in the paving slabs I used for a board. Bellcranks linked the point tie bars to get the correct movement from a single point lever. I used stiff steel wire probably 1-2mm thick. Just needed some grease in the tubes and worked fine for a few tears till railway was dismantled for a house move.

 

[The Devonian]

You might find this of interest;

Switch Throws – Ottawa Valley Garden Railway Society

ovgrs.ca

 

[TD6239]

Thanks All!
Many great ideas on the Ottawa Valley website, I had never seen their page before