First off, thank you Allan for taking the time to answer my questions the past few days.

I have been thinking about the throwbars for my Walthers turnouts. I have no opposition to buying circuit board material. It seems that once you cut a gap in the circuit board material to protect against a short that you would have each point rail connected to its own piece of circuit board. However, is it possible to use one piece of styrene and epoxy it to the points with some Super Jet for a throwbar? Just wondering. It doesn't seem any different than allowing the rails to rest on plastic ties in terms of safety.

Thanks for your thoughts. Rob

-- Robert W. Galbraith (galbraith@zklaw.com), February 06, 2004

Answers

The moving rail points need to be properly spaced to ensure that they will contact the stock rails with the correct amount of throwbar movement. And they must press firmly up against the stock rail to prevent derailments. Soldering the point rails to the throwbar is an easy way to attach them and get a physically strong joint, and yet allows you re-work if need by reheating. You can use glue and styrene...But it may not yield a permanent bond between rail and throwbar.

-- Don Vollrath (dvollrath@magnetek.com), February 10, 2004.