I haven't finished my first turnout yet(but did build a few sections of straight track) but am trying to think ahead on this project and plan accordingly. I have been considering ways to throw the turnout and also have control over frog polarity. I have 26 turnouts to build so cost, ease of construction and reliability are major factors of consideration. I have previously discussed with a few folks on how to connect up the CI ground throw to the FT N Scale turnout. No matter what it has become apparent that this is not going to be a plug and play operation. Mostly folks have recommended to drill holes in the throw bar tie and use the CI connector piece with the smaller diameter pin or bend up some sort of connector piece out of wire. However, that would require a mighty large hole for such a small tie. Using a HO narrow gauge tie has been recommended and would make drilling the hole somewhat easier than in the N Scale tie but I would still have to come up with some sort of jig or other means to insure drilling the hole in correct spot centered on the tie.
In the meantime, waiting on my turnout supplies to show up from FT, I have thought about various connection methods and came up with the following. I have used a regular circuit board track tie and CI 220S ground throw to demonstrate. I took a short piece of 14ga solid wire and cut it to about 1/2" length and stripped the insulation. I fluxed and tinned one end. I trimmed the ends of the wire using track cutter pliers to get a good, square cut on the end of the wire piece(a little filing might square it up better). I also fluxed and tinned an area on the end of a N Scale circuit board track tie(simulating the turnout throwbar). Using a "third hand" I aligned and positioned the wire piece squarely with the throwbar tie and soldered in place. I then trimmed the wire piece to a suitable length. The wire piece on the end of the throwbar tie facilitates connecting it to the throwbar on the CI ground throw using the CI connector piece with the hole in it. The 14 ga wire is just slightly smaller in diameter than the hole in the CI connector piece. I won't know how well this will work until I get my first turnout built and actually test this. The wire piece soldered to the circuit board tie seems to be fairly solid, but only actual operation over time will prove this out. This is somewhat dependent on how well the copper layer is bonded to board layer beneath it.
I'm still looking for better ideas on how to do this connection and if anyone is willing to share please respond. I am going to try and put some pictures with this post of what I have done so far.
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