Eureka!!

[wm3798]

http://www.fourthray.com/Peter/Articles/Trackwork/TortoiseAboveGround.htm

I just stumbled across this in the links section... 

BRILLIANT!!
Lee

[MEC_FAN]

Wicked brilliant, thanks for the link lee, I got a spot down the road I may try that on.

MEC

[Chulvis]

Cool stuff. Very handy for those pain in the you know what under-table spots.

[keystonecrossings]

I've done quite a few like that.

And I've used the brass tubes to run linkages to the side in cases of Tortoises above or below the tracks.

I built my Sherman's Creek bridge -- six spans, four tracks, stone arch -- as a module. Tortoises are below the plywood, which is below the creek bed, and are set back about 8 inches. The throw rods stay parallel to the track level and pass through brass rods to a point vertically above the Tortoise where they meet a vertically oriented throw rod.

I'll post some pics on SNFF.

[Mark5]

Filed in memory (I hopes)

[up1950s]

This is where all the larger scale's have life easier .

[Chulvis]

This is where all the larger scale's have life easier .

Larger scales can kiss my N.

[keystonecrossings]

Ah, the long lost Topic I was looking for! Please see...

http://forum.atlasrr.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=34728

[Ian MacMillan]

I had seen this on the Proto:87 PRR layout that was in MR a few years back. Made for some easy fixin if things go wrong.

[GRSJr]

The rod-in-a-tube is a very old device called a "Boden Wire". It's been used for years in all kinds of machines as well as in model railroads. Often the wire is just connected to a knob to make a manually-thrown turnout. Sometimes it's connected to a tein-coil switch-machine, and here it's connected to a Tortise.

Not exactly rocket science, but effective where needed.

One often used variant is to use a tube made of coiled wire (like the ones used to pick up things). This way the tube can be bent into any shape that's needed to avoid obsticles. This can be done with a solid tube, but it's not as easy.

[wm3798]

The rod in tube wasn't what caught my eye...  For some reason it just never occured to me to mount the tortoise above the table!

The one spot where I could use this design, where a subterranean track passes directly below a turnout location, unfortunately doesn't have a place to conveniently hide the tortoise without some considerable re-working.

I may try using a linkage from off-center to get it.
Lee