The strip of white styrene has been temporarily slid into place beneath the throw bar to provide friction. The piece is an HO scale 4x12, though the thickness is only important if, like me, you are using the same type of Atlas turnouts. What matters is that it is enough friction to hold the points in place without regular operations causing them to move but not so much that it becomes cumbersome to slide the points over to throw the switch.
When planning this railroad and how it would be operated, I chose to make all the turnouts accessible in order to throw them by hand, whether with some sort of switch stand or by the 'finger flick' method. Peco turnouts have a spring mechanism built in that locks the points against the stock rail; Atlas turnouts do not. In the past I have used the popular but grossly oversized Caboose Industries ground throws. Wanting to create a more fine-scale appearance on this railroad, I decided against using them here.
Should this friction method work as well as I think it will, eventually I will glue the styrene strips in place when I balast the track. I have beautiful little switch stand models that will live next to each turnout but they will only be decorative. There are operating switch stands that either throw the turnout when you move them, or move in response to the throw bar sliding. In the interest of time and simplicity I decided to not use those this time around.
I will report how this method works in a future post. However I am already seeing results as I operate a locomotive that seems to derail at a couple turnouts. After I inserted the strip, the engine has run right through without a hiccup. Below, Pan Handle Rusty Route #225 rolls over the Icing spur turnout without derailing. Note the white styrene strip seen beneath the tender.
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