Push-button turnout control hiding in plain sight.
Hidden inside this HO scale model of a Bethlehem Steel Co. Model 51 low-profile switch stand is a tactile push-button for local turnout control. Simply press down on the target to throw your turnout. A great solution to local control of a turnout without a control panel.
What Inspired This Product
While searching for a solution to local turnout control on my personal layout I considered many options including manual ground throws. For various reasons that I won’t go into here, I settled on Cobalt IP Digital turnout motors.
The next decision I had to make was how to control them. For my yard area that was a no-brainer, local control panels. However much of my layout is a branch line, with the track located close to the edge of the layout and easily accessible. For those areas, I did not want to make local panels and clutter up the fascia of the layout.
Not wanting to revert back to manual turnout control in those areas I was in search of some type of hidden switch. In my case, I needed a simple momentary, normally open, push-button switch to trigger the Cobalt turnout motors. One afternoon while installing some Micro Engineering turnout details I noticed that the cast metal switch stand was about the size of a micro push button switch. I decided to try and hide a switch behind one of the switch stand castings. A small hole was drilled into the push button to mount the metal cast target. Once painted, the beta version of my switch stand turnout control didn’t look half bad so I fired up the CAD programs and started drawing!
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