By Jon Calon
Face it. Caboose Industries ground throws are ugly. They are way out of scale and potentially dangerous when it comes to the scenery details you can put on the layout. I'd prefer to keep hands out of the scene whenever possible and needed a way to control the turnouts halfway into the scene. Problem is, a toggle switch is good for one side of a module but then it doesn't remotely switch the switch on the other side.
After some research, found the missing piece: A DPDT On-On pushbutton switch. This allows the operator to push the button on either side of the module if the turnout isn't lined the right way. You can also run the wires to more than one tortoise if you have a crossover between two tracks and need to interlock them together. The button has no "on" or "off" state that is apparent to the user, so if you want to change the way it is, press the button. All there is to it.
I've used PVC pipe cap fittings, others have followed the same method with epoxy and other PVC bits that will recess the button into the fascia so the risk of damage to the switch, people or anything else is reduced or eliminated entirely.
Here's a schematic of how to tap into either track power or the accessory bus (you could put a DPDT switch here to choose between the two busses if you can't rely on the Accessory bus being there). Click on the image to view a full-size version of the schematic. The three components on the left of the diagram are all mounted neatly (in my later builds, earlier ones are desiring a redo) on regular perfboard with wires leading to the input power and the output to switches and LED's. The LED's are up to you whether they are powered separately from the tortoises or inline with them. I like the ability to have a nice, clean 9 or 12VDC power supply for lighting on the layout or for LED's and so forth.
