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… .--- Hidden Coal & Staging Tracks Pt. 4 & Lever Frame ---

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Not too long ago some one mentioned 'Lever Frames' and I didn't really know much about them but after looking at the good Wiki article ( HERE ) I got hooked and wanted to see if I could come up with something similar. Not N scale size to be placed somewhere on the layout but a version that could go on the side of the layout next to a 'Yard Control Panel'. A number of them would be ganged together similar to what you would see in a control tower and each would activate throwing a turnout that is shown on the control panel.

There would be LEDs on the control panel and/or on the lever frame itself that would indicate which route the turnout was set for. I had recently developed what I call the 'Spring Switcher' switch machine that goes under the turnout similar to a servo and throws it with a simple fishing line running from it to the side of the layout. It doesn't need much throw on the control line so thought I could connect the 'Lever Frame' to the 'Spring Switcher' for turnout control. There is a video ( HERE ) showing the combination together throwing a turnout. These are parts that can all be 3D printed cheaply.

I also thought it would be great if the 'Lever Frame' could control LEDs on it and/or on a nearby control panel as mentioned above. I modified what I had designed to do that also. Now a version can be printed with two SPDT switches and a momentary push button switch along with hopefully a SPDT slide switch. This will allow it to operate a servo under the turnout vs. the 'Spring Switcher'. I'm thinking it might allow it to operate a number of servo operated switch machines that are commercially available but don't have any to test that idea.

So on with a few pictures of the 'Lever Frame' and then also I got back to laying cork on the layout. I'll print what I hope is the final version of the 'Lever Frame' controller today and soon try and get those print files up on my thingiverse.com account ( HERE ).

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I probably have over 30 hours of design time into this at this point and have generated close to 700 files on my computer associated with it.

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I read a number of posts on laying track and watched a number of videos and if you are starting I'd suggest doing the same. I kept going back to Joe's videos on track laying on his Sayrehurst Secondary layout. You can find one of his videos that I used ( HERE ) along with links to others.

I also have watched a number of his other videos and always enjoy his quick and practical approach to the ways he tackles things. At 79 I'm not sure how long I'll be doing this so I've looked for ideas that are practical and give fairly quick results. He puts down track pretty fast and that was high on my wants as I'd like to put down quite a bit as fast as is practical having a 6 foot by 24 foot area that I can work with. The following pretty much follows his procedures. I'm not going to go into a lot of detail myself as you can find that watching his fine videos.

I'm using Micro Engineering code 55 track and so is Joe so that was another reason I'm using his videos as a guide. He uses ME turnouts where I'll be using turnouts I've built myself. If you are using ME rail you might also find the video ( HERE ) helpful. The tool used in that video and what Joe uses is very hard to find the last time I looked. I found one in someone's old stock in Canada and bought it but since have designed basically the same item that you can 3D print and you can find the print files ( HERE ).

I also have more on laying the cork and track on my site ( HERE ) from when I build my test track.

If you came into the build here you can find the main index for the build ( HERE ).

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