Locking up your layout - 8
effectively preventing access to the track unless the switch
was “unlocked” ahead of time.
Switch locks can also be used in a purely cosmetic fashion.
You could install the cam locks into your fascia and have
them hooked up to… nothing. Crews would be asked to
unlock and relock switches as part of their tasks without
physically or electrically making a connection with your lay-
out. For some, this level of simulation may seem like a gim-
mick of pure imagination, but it’s a simple way to easily add
locks to your operating scheme.
Securing the Rest
With my layout’s turnouts under lock and key, I turned to other
equipment that would normally be secured on a railroad. Two
of my customers had their spurs protected by fences and gates.
I had already built the gates to be opened and closed by hand.
It was a simple matter to add the same wire and shim combo
to these gates. The wire sticks up enough to act as a stop for
the gate, preventing it from opening. When unlocked, the wire
lowers, allowing the gate to swing over the top of the wire. The
wire is stiff enough to stop the gate, but small enough to be
unobtrusive in the scene.
The same idea was used for a derail on one of my industrial
spurs. I modified a Sequoia Scale Models cast metal derail to
14
14: The piano wire is threaded through a hole drilled
in the shim and bent along the bottom so gravity
will pull both the shim and the wire down when
unlocked.
15
15: The completed shim and wire combination is
ready to install under the layout’s sub-roadbed.
MRH-Dec 2013
